Johannesburg - Power-sharing talks between Zimbabwe's Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) may be hitting a wall and hyperinflation destroying the economy, but tourist destination Victoria Falls is attracting more visitors. Operators in the area are also upping investment with, among other projects, a brand new five-star hotel being commissioned.
GotoVictoriaFalls.com is a campaign started three years ago to raise the destination profile of Victoria Falls, a Unesco World Heritage Site and the top tourist spot in Zimbabwe.
Ross Kennedy, spokesperson for GotoVictoriaFalls.com and CEO of Africa Albida, a top Zimbabwe operator, says that arrivals have jumped 22% since the initiative was launched.
"Obviously there was a dip during the elections, but already the numbers have rebounded. The UK, for instance, completely lifted its travel ban for its citizens.
"Arrivals from America and Australia have been steadily climbing throughout." However, from supplying the bulk of overseas tourist UK travellers now account for only about 2% of the total at some establishments.
The recent licensing of traders, including petrol stations, allowing them to accept foreign currency by the central bank has made a huge difference, says Kennedy.
"There is petrol available in Zimbabwe and my local grocer (Kennedy lives in Victoria Falls) carries all the products you'd expect to see in South Africa. Rands, dollars and pounds are readily accepted everywhere - there is no conversion from billions of Zim dollars to rands. What is on your bill is what you pay."
The town of Victoria Falls dollarised before other parts of the country and has to some extent been insulated from the collapse in the rest of the country, which is close to becoming a full barter economy.
South Africans are still the most frequent visitors to Vic Falls, representing some 30% of the total, depending on the type of property visited.
Japan, Germany and Scandinavia also count in the top five. South African Airways and British Airways offer daily flights from Johannesburg to the falls, but the availability of fuel has also meant that self-drive tours have once again become viable for South Africans.
New projects
"South Africans are attracted by price and most properties offer discounted rates for people coming from the region," says Kennedy.
GotoVictoriaFalls.com comprises 28 stakeholders ranging from hotels, lodges and restaurants to airlines, tour operators and the tourism authority which have bandied together to promote the destination.
The Zimbabwean tourism operators behind GotoVictoriaFalls.com, which include African Sun (the 104-year old Victoria Falls Hotel and the Grace in Rosebank are some of the ZSE-listed group's properties), Rainbow Tourism Group and adventure operators Shearwater and Wild Horizons, agree that they've experienced worse than the present situation.
Significant new investments are planned on the Zimbabwean side (Zambia has recently attracted the big hotel groups to the site of the falls). Among other projects, Rainbow plans to erect a new 5-star hotel to open at the falls within 18 months, while African Sun has added 100 rooms to its Kingdom Hotel.
Adventure travel is a big part of the falls' attraction and Shearwater has opened a new restaurant next to the bridge over the gorge. The company is also spending $6.5m with Zimbabwean National Parks to re-develop the run-down entrance to the falls.
After additions to the Gorges Lodge conference facilities, the town of Victoria Falls can now accommodate 2 000 visitors. After suspening its service a few years ago, the luxury train operated by Rovos Rail once again stops in Victoria Falls.
Tourism has long been touted as the industry to facilitate the fastest turnaround in the country's economy (rehabilitating agriculture and mining would take longer), providing much-needed foreign exchange and bringing about new jobs.
The 30 million monthly users of the web's biggest community travel site Tripadvisor.com rate Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe as fifth in African travellers' popularity stakes. It is placed after Cape Town, Abu Simbel and Luxor in Egypt, and Knysna. Victoria Falls in Zambia occupies the eighth spot.
- Fin24.com