The Sunday News
ZIMBABWE is battling to increase bed nights in spite of having a variety of entertaining activities within a 20-kilometre radius compared to other countries in southern Africa.
Bed nights refer to the number of nights tourists spend in a country.
Stakeholders in the tourism sector said the main problem was lack of diversity among the products on offer.
In an interview, Shearwater corporate communications manager Mr Clement Mukwasi said the average nights most tourists spend in one country is 21 while in Zimbabwe they spend an average of three nights.
“The problem we face as a country is that when tourists plan a trip to Southern Africa, they usually tour South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and then in Zimbabwe they only spend time in Victoria Falls. We need to ensure that the bookings of Victoria Falls should be booked as destination Zimbabwe so that more nights are spent in the country,” said Mr Mukwasi.
He said tour operators had the responsibility of marketing other places like Bulawayo, Masvingo, the Eastern Highlands, Mana Pools, Kariba and Harare among many others. He said this could provide options to tourists resulting in them spending more nights in the country.
In an overview of the peak season that is the period July to first week January, Mr Mukwasi said there was a spillover of tourists into Bulawayo and Kariba that had effectively increased the bed nights.
“We are beginning to see a spillover of tourists from Victoria Falls into Bulawayo particularly Matopos and Kariba although the increase in bed nights is not yet significant. The spread of activities to the rest of the country requires a serious focus on infrastructural development,” he said.
Tourism stakeholders said this was achievable if there was an interface between tour operators dotted around the country.
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority head public relations manager Mr Sugar Chagonda said the main strategy in increasing bed nights is to diversify products and activities on offer.
“We are working with tourism stakeholders to come up with new products which are diverse and of a wide range. If there are limited activities, tourists do not spend a lot of nights in one place as they would have exhausted all that is on offer,” said Mr Chagonda.
Mr Chagonda said the issue of coming up with diverse new products was catered for in the recently launched national tourism policy.
He said the tourism authority was working on marketing other regions in the country.
“Victoria Falls is a global icon, it is more marketable and has a natural edge over other attractions in the country but as a tourism authority we are working on ensuring that spotlight is given to other attractions,” he said.
Mr Chagonda said it was also imperative to improve connectivity around the country especially air access to make all regions accessible.
Meanwhile, August has seen a 23 percent increase in tourist arrivals compared to the same period last year which has been attributed to conferences and facilities and an influx of organised groups.
The country last year jointly held the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) general assembly with Zambia. This year it also played host to the Sadc summit.
“During this peak season we are getting a lot of organised groups especially Japanese groups and of late Spanish groups. In Europe the highest spenders are from Spain and on individualised travel, the Australians top that group while South Africa remains the main source in Africa.
“Hosting of major conferences has been a positive development for Victoria Falls and during the Sadc summit, there was an overflow of visitors who were then accommodated in residents’ houses which helped dispel the myth about safety in the country,” said Mr Mukwasi.
