The Sunday News
Judith Phiri and Rutendo Nyeve, Business Reporters
THE tourism industry has bemoaned the addition of Zimbabwe and other Southern African countries to Europe and United Kingdom (UK)’s red list following the outbreak of a new Covid-19 variant.
The new Covid-19 variant known as B.1.1.529, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially named omicron, was detected last week in South Africa, sparking international concern, with a growing list of countries announcing travel curbs on countries in Southern Africa. The affected countries include Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s tourism sector is on the path to recovery having absorbed the Covid-19 shocks, and the ban is said to affect the sector which was looking forward to international tourists during the festive season. A number of airlines had also started resuming flights to Zimbabwe especially to Victoria Falls, after the city achieved herd immunity due to a successful vaccination programme ran by the Government.
Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe Victoria Falls Chapter chairperson Mr Arnold Musonza bemoaned the red listing saying it will impede the recovery of the sector.
“As destination Zimbabwe, we have done very well to prepare against the pandemic as you might have seen by the level of vaccination that has taken place. In Victoria Falls we have over 86 percent of people who are vaccinated. This shows how serious we are taking this in terms of preparation to be safe both for our tourists, locals and as a destination.
‘‘The travel ban on Southern African countries which has seen a number airlines such as Emirates, Qatar eventually stopping flights into this region means there won’t be any international tourists coming in,” said Mr Musonza.
He said with a number of countries that have added the ban such as UK, USA, Australia, Japan and Singapore, Zimbabwe tourism industry will suffer a major blow.
Mr Musonza said there was a need for Southern African countries to deal with the issue of the new variant in a more scientific manner and ask the whole world to look at it with different lens.
“At the moment I think there is arbitrage which affects our business. We have done well as a region to implement mitigatory measures against the pandemic and that should be taken into serious consideration. South Africa for example has acted very well scientifically, they have been at the forefront of transparent information sharing, which helps the whole world to prepare against this pandemic but again we are being punished for that,” he added.
Silwane Tours and Safaris, and Silwane Nature Reserve founder and director Mr Sikhawuliso Sibanda said being put on the red list has negative effects considering that the country had just been removed from the same list barely a month ago.
He encouraged tourism players to be innovative and also prioritise domestic tourism by introducing attractive packages, as the red list might also affect people from the diaspora coming back home for the festive season.
