City hotels fully booked for Under-20 Youth Games

Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
HOTELS in Bulawayo are fully booked ahead of the Africa Union Sports Council Region 5 Under-20 Youth Games, which start on Friday ending on December 14.

The sporting event will see Bulawayo hosting visitors from 11 participating countries including Zimbabwe.

Some of the participating countries are Lesotho, Angola, Botswana, Seychelles, Namibia and South Africa.

A snap survey carried out by Business Chronicle yesterday showed that city hotels during the youth games period would be 100 percent fully booked.

“The Local Organising Committee has reserved substantial accommodation and we hope in the next two or three days we will be fully booked for the youth games,” Bulawayo Rainbow Tourism general manager Fungai Mutseyekwa said.

The hosting of the sporting event in Bulawayo is a welcome development as it boosts business and revenue for players in the local hospitality sector.

An official from Cresta Churchill Hotel’s reservations department who declined to be named said: “All our 50 rooms are booked for the Africa Union Sports Council Region 5 Under-20 Youth Games.”

Another official from Holiday Inn reservations department also said they were fully booked for the youth games.

Bulawayo has in the past experienced accommodation challenges during occasions such as the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair with organisers of the event resorting to seeking accommodation for the visitors from private home owners in areas close to the trade fair venue.

According to Bulawayo City Council, the city has 525 hotel and lodges beds.

To ease accommodation woes during the trade fair period, the ZITF Company has proposed to build a 300-bed hotel close to the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair Grounds.