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(ZTA) says Top Pick Investments’ US$2,5 million one-stop shop business complex, which includes a 28-roomed lodge, is a big boost for the country’s tourism sector.
The new investment has increased room capacity for the border town of Beitbridge, which handles large volumes of transit human and vehicular traffic each day.
Vice-President Kembo Mohadi officially opened the complex last November and applauded the growing interest of local investors participating in the productive tourism sector.
The new lodge strategically located along the Beitbridge-Bulawayo Highway exactly 98km from Beitbridge town will surely serve the travellers’ needs, said ZTA in an update.
The Makhado Lodge is an addition to another 33 -roomed lodge in Beitbridge by Top Pick Investment, which is a locally owned company.
“This is evidence of the growing interest in tourism investment as the country drives towards vision 2030,” said ZTA.
The new investment worth US$2,5 million is a one-stop shop business complex which has the lodge, a salon, fuel station, internet café, motor vehicle workshop, conference facility, butchery, bakery, supermarket and hardware shop.
ZTA noted that from 2016 up to date, there has been a slight increase in the number of rooms in Beitbridge. The Beitbridge tourism zone is geographically located in the Matabeleland South province on the border between Zimbabwe and South Africa.
As of December 2019, statistics show that 383 157 entered Zimbabwe through Beitbridge and 257 684 exited the country through the same border post giving a total of 640 841.
Given such traffic, the ZTA says accommodation facilities turn out to be an imperative amenity in this region. In 2016 Beitbridge had a total number of 529 rooms. However, in that same year two major players (Rainbow Hotel and Holiday Inn) closed down and resulted in the loss of 259 rooms.
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