The Sunday News
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
HOPES are high that services that have been reopened in the wake of the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown will not be closed again as great strides have been made in reducing new cases of the pandemic.
This was said by Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu as he met small and medium tourism players in Victoria Falls yesterday. The minister was accompanied by his Permanent Secretary Mr Munesu Munodawafa and Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) acting chief executive Mr Givemore Chidzidzi together with ZimParks regional manager for north-west Matabeleland Mr Samson Chibaya among others, for the first ever meeting with small tourism players.
The Government recently reopened Kazungula and Victoria Falls borders for fully vaccinated tourists and has also allowed restaurants to serve sit-in clients who also show proof that they have been inoculated.
Minister Ndlovu said while more can be done, Victoria Falls has become a model for the whole country and region after more than 70 percent of the population got vaccinated.
“Numbers of new cases have significantly gone down and that gives us hope. We have opened borders here because we acknowledge we cannot close forever. Our hope and target is that we are opening not to close again, that is why we have encouraged people to get vaccinated,” said Minister Ndlovu.
As of Friday, 1 583 396 people had been fully vaccinated countrywide and close to 30 000 of them are from Victoria Falls. Minister Ndlovu said the vaccination success story has to translate to arrivals which should come through vigorous marketing of the destination.
This comes as the small and medium tourism operators have called for a review of permits and operating licence fees in the tourism sector, saying the high fees were keeping them out of business especially now that they have been affected by Covid-19.
While the Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe (TBCZ) and other associations like Restaurants Operators Association of Zimbabwe have been co-ordinating big operators in their constituents, small and medium tourism players seem to be fragmented and working individually making it difficult for them to survive in the industry or access some Government incentives.
The minister challenged the Victoria Falls industry to emulate their counterparts in Nyanga who have come up with Nyanga 22, a strategy aimed at collectively marketing all products in the area. He implored the local industry to have a consolidated marketing strategy for recovery of destination Victoria Falls.
“We noticed that when we interact, it’s the same big players so we decided to have interactions with small and medium players. Sometimes policy issues get lost because we don’t interact with you. We need to collectively find a way of making the sector recover. We appreciate the resilience you have shown and we will always come to Victoria Falls because you are the jewel of this country.
“We are here to share ideas on how we can live with Covid-19 but let’s find a way of revitalizing the sector. We need a consolidated promotion of Victoria Falls, so far when one thinks of Victoria Falls they only think of the Rainforest because we have marketed it that way. There are so many activities here but it all depends on how we are promoting them. I believe Victoria Falls is bigger than what we have marketed hence we need to promote the destination as a family.
Why can’t you have a board or association that represents small and medium players at all fora and this will help even in policymaking like budgeting,” he said.
Participating at the meeting, operators acknowledged the need for working collectively for the good of the destination. They, however, called for downward review of multiple permits and operating licences, a call that has been made by bigger players at several other fora.
The operators said they were not advocating for a removal of the fees but for consideration of the fact that there were multiple licences at a time when business continues to elude the sector because of Covid-19. Mr Charles Chakanya who is director of Kalai Safaris said there is a need to adjust some fees in response to effects of Covid-19.
Mr Christopher Ndiweni of Mahelane Tours said while Government had partly reopened tourism, short operating hours set prescribed in level four lockdown stifled business and was supported by Ms Mercy Mushangwe who called for free movement for fully vaccinated people. — @ncubeleon
