admin
The convergence of more than 15 000 visitors — a quarter of the Victoria Falls population — in a space of 10 days, was an opportunity for the industry to take stock of areas that need to be addressed to avoid hiccups ahead of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly 2013 to be co-hosted by Victoria Falls and Livingstone, Zambia.
In separate interviews yesterday, players in the hospitality industry commended the Government for the peace and tranquility in the country for the huge arrivals of tourists during the festive season.
Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe president, Mr Tich Hwingwiri, said the Christmas and New Year holidays were eventful as they brought about brisk business for the industry.
“As we have been saying since the start of the festive season, our hotels in Victoria Falls performed very well. We are talking of fully booked hotels and lodges during this period and we attribute this to the annual Falls Fest and other good packages put in place by operators and bus companies to see to it that even locals get affordable rates to visit the resort town and engage in activities,” he said.
Mr Hwingwiri said the festive season was also an opportunity for the sector to see areas where operators needed to pull up their socks.
“This was very critical for operators to evaluate areas of improvement. There is still room for improvement.”
According to one of the event co-ordinators of the Falls Fest, Mr Martin Vaughan, the two-day event, which ran from 30 to 31 December, attracted more than 3 500 tourists per night.
He said the event brought about domestic, regional and international tourists who also undertook activities such as bungee jumping, white-water rafting and elephant rides, among other activities.
“On average, 3 500 music lovers attended the shows per night and they brought in huge business for taxi operators, the local food and clothing outlets,” said Mr Vaughan.
He also said the event organisers were very grateful to the ZRP for their 24-hour presence in all corners of the town adding that they brought about a sense of safety and protection to the visitors.
Mr Vaughan said they were also working on starting the Kariba Fest this year.
“After the successful hosting of the Falls Fest, we want to take the act to Kariba to market all the destinations in the country.”
According to Mr Ben Tesa, the general manager at Khanondo Safaris, the festive season was good for business.
“As Khanondo we were filled to capacity and at times we were forced to rebook tourists because of overwhelming numbers. The packages we had in place with bus operators like
Pathfinder worked wonders as a lot of domestic tourists were brought in and taken to hotels and engaged in activities at attractive prices,” he said.
Mr Tesa also noted that a lot of domestic tourists were now appreciating tourism as evidenced by the huge turnout especially by diasporans who he said brought in their families and friends.
On Christmas Eve, there was a Victor Kunonga show at Elephant Hills Resort, followed by the barefoot beer fest at Farm School, pool party at the Victoria Falls Rest Camp and Lodges and finally the main act on 30 December where Locnville played.
Other than award-winning Locnville, there were internationally recognised acts such as Evicted, Clint & Co., The First Descent, CrashCarBurn and Ghapi.
Online Reporter