The Sunday News
Dumisani Nsingo and Wilson Dakwa, Business Reporters
A number of hoteliers in and around Bulawayo increased their accommodation charges by as much as 400 percent taking advantage of desperate accommodation seekers that had thronged the city for the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) that ended in Bulawayo last week.
A snap survey by the Sunday News during the ZITF last week revealed that most lodges that usually charge $30 a night had increased their charges to as high as $120 per night while some of the hotels in the city had doubled their rates.
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) chief operations officer Mr Givemore Chidzidzi said although the organisation did not condone increasing of prices by players in the hospitality industry, the trend was synonymous with global trends in the event of a big showcase of the ZITF’s magnitude being held in a certain destination.
“We have noticed that this is a trend that prices increase during trade fair. The fact that premiums increase when there is high demand is very normal in many places like Cape Town, Johannesburg (in South Africa) and even in Europe when there are major events,” he said.
Mr Chidzidzi said there was, however, a need for an all stakeholders engagement with the hoteliers taking cognisance of the impact the price increases have on the tourism sector and the concerned destination.
“There is a need for an engagement, which involves all parties like ZITF Company, ZTA, Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) and the Ministry (of Tourism and Hospitality). There have been some discussions with our parent Ministry regarding this and we haven’t really come up with a solution because the engagement is on-going and hopefully after the Fair we can discuss more. One of the solutions lies in addressing the capacity constraints which are within Bulawayo so when we hear of the shortage of accommodation visa-vie the high demand is created by ZITF. This is why ZITF in conjunction with ZTA have tried to increase capacity by allowing those with private homes to offer accommodation,” he said.
Mr Chidzidzi said after the ZITF all the hotels and lodges resort to charging sub-economy rates.
Bulawayo’s lack of adequate room occupancy at its hospitality facilities is particularly exposed during the hosting of the ZITF as most residents especially in the affluent suburbs turn their houses into temporary lodges.
Mr Chidzidzi, however, said the move by the ZITF Company would go a long way in reducing accommodation challenges especially during the exhibition period.
ZITF Company has set sights at constructing a 300-bed hotel and an 800- seater Convention Centre.
HAZ president Mr Innocent Manyera reiterated Mr Chidzidzi’s sentiments citing that the price hikes during the trade fair were due to the demand and supply matrix.
“Due to the high numbers of delegates and exhibitors that come for the fair, Bulawayo doesn’t have enough accommodation for everyone. We therefore urge exhibitors to book early so as to avoid accommodation challenges,” he said.
Mr Manyera said there was a need for the ZITF Company to attach forms with rates and charges of various local hotels and lodges to its invited guests so as to guard against price discrepancies or distortions.
“We will consult with ZITF to see if it is possible for them to also attach forms with rates and charges of local hotels when they are sending invitations for the exhibition. Also, we will look at offering a package whereby upon booking a stand at ZITF, the exhibitor can also book a room at the same time. This will largely assist the international exhibitors because we can’t reserve accommodation before they pay, lest we incur losses if they decide to book another hotel or lodge when they arrive,” said Mr Manyera.
