The Sunday News
Roberta Katunga, Senior Business Reporter
THE Department of Immigration has turned down tourism operator’s requests for visitors using private aircrafts to be cleared at National Parks aerodromes saying it is not feasible due to resource constraints.
Tourism operators in the country had appealed to the immigration department to allow visitors using private planes to land directly at Hwange National Park, Matopos or Mana Pools so as to save on time and costs.
Responding to questions from Sunday News Business, Principal Chief Immigration Officer Mr Clemence Masango said clearing tourists at Hwange National Park, Matopos and Mana Pools would mean putting up of international airport infrastructure in consultation with all stakeholders like the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, National Parks and Police as the Department of Immigration is just a part of the synergy.
“Due to resource constraints it is difficult to deploy officers to clear tourists as and when they arrive. The volume of the private aircrafts is very low to warrant permanently deploying officers there,” said Mr Masango adding that the number of tourists to these destinations using private aircrafts is seasonal.
Mr Masango said the frequency of the private planes is only significant during the hunting season otherwise they are far below off season.
According to the immigration department the current setup is not an inconvenience to tourism promotion.
Mr Masango said visitors are cleared within 3 minutes of arrival at the country’s adequately manned airports before proceeding to their close by destinations, adding that this is an option the department is, however, willing to explore in consultation with all stakeholders should volumes increase.
Hwange is 100km from Vic Falls International airport while Matopos is 40km from Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo airport and Mana pools is 122km from Kariba airport.
“Although the Vic Falls-Hwange and Bulawayo- Matopos roads are accessible by road but the Kariba- Mana Pools one is inaccessible especially during the rainy season. These destinations are very close to established airports,” he said.
