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Responding to questions from Business Chronicle yesterday, Mr Hwingwiri said Victoria Falls town had an average of 60 percent occupancy rate for the three days.
“Victoria Falls area averaged 60 percent occupancy for the three days, Nyanga averaged 53 percent over the same period and Kariba recorded an average of 65 percent,” he said.
Mr Hwingwiri said city hotels were generally quite as they were mainly driven by conference businesses.
He said Bulawayo hotels had an average occupancy of 35 percent, while Harare hotels by nature of the city hosting the national events which bring families of fallen heroes from all walks of life to the national shrine were busier and were sitting at 65 percent occupancy rate for the period.
“Promotion packages that included pay for 3 nights and stay the 4th night free were in the market,” he said.
Mr Hwingwiri said the increase in luxury coaches along the Harare, Bulawayo, Victoria Falls route continued to provide options to the travellers.
Zimbabwe Council of Tourism (ZCT) president Mr Glenn Stutchbury said the sector experienced mixed results.
“Heroes holiday for the sector had mixed results but to our expectations. The city hotels were quiet as is expected during a holiday as locals tend to travel to resorts or home (rural areas) during holidays,” he said.
Mr Stutchbury said Victoria Falls showed signs of positive inflows particularly from the domestic market.
“What hampered travel as has been the case for a while now is the access for internal travel — if people cannot fly to our major resorts from our capital city we will continue to be found wanting in this regard.”
Mr Stutchbury also said some players in the sector had put in place packages in a bid to attract tourists to their establishments.
“Many products featured specials for locals over this period particularly in the city hotels where operators made attempts to convince people to stay in town for the holiday,” he said.
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