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Roberta Katunga, Senior Business Reporter
THE tourism sector did not receive any holiday cheer as bookings remain subdued during the Easter holiday which ends tomorrow with operators saying there were limited to domestic and regional bookings.
Zimbabwe Council for Tourism representative Ms Barbara Murasiranwa said the situation was not looking good with very little activity from the domestic and regional market mainly due to economic challenges and the continued appreciation of the dollar against regional currencies.
“People have no money and we are not looking great. Although there has been an improvement in the international market, it is mostly because they had prior bookings and were set to travel but otherwise things are quiet,” said Ms Murasiranwa.
She said the tourism sector expected an improvement in bookings around the July to December period.
“Our busy period will be in the last half of the year although the slight improvement is not indicating any boom in figures for the sector. We lost quite a number of our markets due to what is happening in the world especially the terror attacks which are affecting travelling,” she said.
Ms Murasiranwa said the sector was doing its best to market Zimbabwe as an ideal destination by attending fairs all over including the recent one in Germany, Japan and China adding that domestic efforts were also being employed.
Shearwater public relations manager Mr Clement Mukwasi reiterated Ms Murasiranwa’s comments about the subdued performance of the tourism sector over the Easter holidays saying the holiday started with low domestic tourist bookings.
“The regional market is quiet, visiting Zimbabwe for them has become expensive because of their weakening currencies while most economies globally are not performing well and as a result this is taking a toll on citizens.
Recovery will only be seen around the Heroes Holiday going through to Christmas,” said Mr Mukwasi.
He said the tourism sector was mulling introducing regional rates from accommodation to activities.
He said it was important for operators to consider the rand price as South Africa has always been Zimbabwe’s largest market.
“An announcement will be made in due course as discussions are underway on how to deal with these markets and make sure that our use of the US dollar doesn’t deter regional tourists from visiting,” he said.
Meanwhile, Elephant Hills management said the hotel was about 50 percent booked for the Easter period with a major boost coming in from a regional group of about 200 people from Botswana.
“We are running a regional special that lets guests pay for two nights but stay for three nights as well as a complimentary boat cruise and unlimited golf. We also have one for locals although the uptake has not been well,” said Elephant Hills.
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