The Sunday News
Roberta Katunga Senior Business Reporter
TOUR operators in the country have reduced prices of activities owing to extremely low movement in the sector in the first quarter of the year which is also known as tourism’s low period.According to the industry, tour operators last year increased prices of services after reports that Government was mulling introducing value added tax on tourism services. However, Government did not introduce the tax resulting in prices being slashed by 15 percent.
Shearwater Adventures corporate communications manager Mr Clement Mukwasi told Sunday Business that the increase in activity prices to cater for VAT had made the destination very expensive.
“Activity in January and the whole first quarter is extremely low, we usually record zero passengers from the domestic market and even the regional market is extremely suppressed as our main source is South Africa which has been affected by the weakening rand.
“The international market is also not travelling much during this period after the main end of year holidays,” said Mr Mukwasi.
According to statistics from the industry, people who come into Victoria Falls in January are hardly 15 percent of the numbers that come in around August.
Services that have seen a reduction in prices include activities like scenic helicopter flights, adrenaline/high wire activities, safari adventures as well as accommodation.
African Sun hotels slashed charges for their hotels by up to 70 percent. The Elephant Hills resort in Victoria Falls is now charging $75 per person sharing in a double room from $100 while a single room is $125 from $170.
The Victoria Falls hotel also reduced its charges per person sharing to $125 down from $155 while a deluxe double room is now $145 from $180.
The Caribbea Bay resort in Kariba is now charging $60 per person sharing in a standard double room from $85 while Troutbeck resort in Nyanga has its rooms going for as low as $70 from $95 and $105 from $150.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the tourism sector said the outlook period for this year looked promising as they expected to have a lot of travellers judging from the inquiries from group travellers and overland trucks.
“There is a lot of excitement about completion of the airport in Victoria Falls from visitors as we have been getting inquiries on air connectivity. We believe that as soon as construction is complete, we will see an overflow of tourists that surpass the 1996 period. Operators are also giving answers in line with the Government timetable on completion,” said an operator based in Victoria Falls.
Despite the positive outlook in the sector, Mr Mukwasi said the industry was still facing funding challenges for various projects.
“There is no offshore funding for projects and there are limited credit facilities,” he said.
