The Sunday News
Dumisani Nsingo, Senior Business Reporter
HOSPITALITY group, African Sun Limited (ASL) will tomorrow open four of its hotels to guests in line with the Level Two national lockdown announcement by President Mnangagwa that allows re-opening of some formal businesses.
In a statement to its guests dated 8 May, ASL said it would resume operations of its hotels in phases.
“Following the publication of Statutory Instrument 99 of 2020, we are pleased to announce the resumption of service on a phased approach.
It is envisaged that the opening will have three phases,” read part of the statement.
The hotelier indicated that for the first phase it would open four of its hotels.
“The following hotels will resume operations for your convenience from Monday the 11th of May 2020: Holiday Inn Harare, Holiday Inn Bulawayo, Holiday Inn Mutare and Great Zimbabwe Hotel,” said ASL.
The company further said hotels to be opened under phase two and their respective opening dates would be communicated in due course.
The hospitality group’s other hotels include Victoria Falls Hotel, Caribbea Bay Resort, Hwange Safari Lodge, The Kingdom, Elephant Hills Resort, Troutbeck Resort and Monomotapa Hotel.
In a statement accompanying financial results for the year ended 31 December 2019, ASL indicated that it lost US$4,2 million from the cancellation of 14 512 bookings as of March this year due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“Our current statistics have shown that we have had 14 512 room nights cancelled, with a total revenue of US$4,2 million lost by 24 March 2020,” said ASL.
The hospitality group said as the outbreak continues to evolve, it is challenging at this point to predict the full extent and duration of its business and economic impact.
“However, we expect the remainder of the first half of 2020 to be severely impacted causing a permanent dent to the 2020 financial performance. The second half is forecasted to have better performance as the pandemic is expected to be under control on the back of lockdowns and isolation measures,” said ASL.
