Bad roads negatively impact on domestic tourism

 Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter

THE tourism industry has implored the Government to urgently fix the country’s major roads that have been damaged by heavy rains to ensure smooth domestic travel.

A majority of the country’s roads are heavily damaged with motorists incurring huge repair costs due to potholes while some bridges on gravel roads have been washed away, leaving some communities isolated.

The Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road, a key tourism link, is also in a deplorable state — filled with potholes especially on a stretch of 30km either side of Hwange.

The stretch between Gwayi River and Lupane, as well as between St Luke’s and Mbembesi River and around Insuza are also affected.

There have also been calls to rehabilitate Cross Dete-Binga/Mlibizi Road, which also links Victoria Falls with those coming off the houseboats from Kariba. Bulawayo-Tsholotsho Road, which also connects to the Hwange National Park from the northern direction, is equally in a deplorable state.

Some motorists have expressed concern saying the road is now a ‘death trap’ and driving along it is a nightmare.

Government recently declared the country’s roads a state of disaster with efforts being made to mobilise resources to rehabilitate the road network.

Players in the tourism industry say a bad road network negates efforts to revive tourism and have called for urgent rehabilitation of all key roads.

Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) Victoria Falls chapter chair Mr Anald Musonza said trafficable roads are key in the absence of air transport.

“The road network in Zimbabwe is so important given our drive for domestic tourism and the lack of reliable air services to various tourist destinations in Zimbabwe,” he said.

“More and more of our domestic tourists are self-drives and we need a good road network that allows people to move in an accident-free fashion.

“The current state of our roads begs for urgent attention and redress as we have most of our roads being potholed.

The Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road is super-important to this destination Victoria Falls as it links us to the rest of the country where our local tourists come from. Our appeal as an industry is to have all our major road networks fixed including the one linking our Matabeleland North capital Lupane to Midlands as it gives a shorter link to Victoria Falls.”

The Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road leads to the country’ prime tourism destination and connects Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and South Africa through Bulawayo. It is widely used by self-drives visiting the destination. Mr Musonza said in the absence of airline services for tourist movement, a good road network becomes a major enabler of free access and movement of tourists.

He said with the current Covids-19 imposed travel restrictions and closed borders, internal human movement should be encouraged by availing a good road network system. — @ncubeleon

Source: Bad roads negatively impact on domestic tourism (19/02/21)

Power Cuts Cripple Victoria Falls

Hotels in Victoria Falls are reeling from the current power outages that have forced them to use generators for hours as cuts intensify, businessdigest has established.

This has seen operating costs rising further for hotel operators in the area.

The power shortages stem from low water levels at Kariba Dam. In addition, the curtailment of power imports from Eskom South Africa and Mozambican power utility Hydro Electrica de Cahorra Bassa has resulted in widespread load shedding which has had an adverse impact on business.

Hoteliers who spoke to businessdigest this week said they had to procure fuel, a commodity that is in short supply, to run generators for their hotels as they are experiencing power cuts that run up to 12 hours a day.

"We need 20 litres an hour to run our generator which is 240 litres for the time when there is no power. When you consider that fuel is now nearly RTGS$5 a litre, it means we need RTGS$1 200 to buy fuel every time we experience power outages which is a huge cost we had not factored into our operations," a hotelier in the resort town said. "A hotel with 200-plus rooms will need 90 litres an hour for 12 hours on any given day without power translating to 1 080 litres a day which means the hotel will need RTGS$5 400 to buy fuel for a day without power."

He said what worsens the situation is the fuel shortage countrywide, which means that they are forced to source at a premium from the black market at extortionate prices.

"On one hand, we need to buy fuel but on the other hand, the fuel is not readily available. It is a Catch 22 situation," the hotelier bemoaned.

This flies in the face of government efforts to boost tourism after years of isolation due to a negative perception and toxic relationship with western countries.

Economist and Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce chief executive Christopher Mugaga said the power outages have a damaging effect on the country's efforts to lure investment.

"The power outages to businesses and households has a very negative impact which probably confirms the negative growth predicted by the IMF and the World Bank," Mugaga said. "The foremost impact is not on the cost but on the uncertainty that this creates," he said.

"This has elevated the country's risk profile due to poor management of the energy sector. It is pushing away the appetite of investment in Zimbabwe."

Source: Power Cuts Cripple Victoria Falls (07/06/19)

Tourism businesses develop waiting facilities at problem border crossing

Leonard Ncube In Victoria Falls

PLAYERS in the tourism industry in Victoria Falls have mobilised resources to build a holding shed at Kazungula Border post to provide resting places for tourists entering the country.

This comes amid reports some tourists have fainted at the border because of excessive direct heat as they wait to be served by immigration and revenue officers.

Representatives of the industry, Mr Chris Svovah, who is chairperson of Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe Victoria Falls chapter, Zimbabwe Council for Tourism Matabeleland North representative, Mrs Barbara Murasiranwa and Mr Farai Chimba, who is Victoria Falls Hotel deputy general manager, visited the border post last week to assess progress on the construction site.

The project has been on the cards for some time and Mrs Murasiranwa last year appealed to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority to help as she claimed the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority was throwing spanners on the grounds that if “we carried out the project, the tourism industry would be glorified as it will be known that it’s the operators who built it (the shed)”.

Mr Svovah said the shed, with a capacity of 100 people, has already been constructed on the Zimbabwean entry side.

“As HAZ we noted with concern that tourists who come through Kazungula Border Post endure scorching heat as they wait to be cleared at the border. This coupled with incessant rains becomes a challenge to our visitors as they wait in long queues for border procedures hence we decided to build a shed at our own cost,” said Mr Svovah.

He said the first phase cost $8 500 mobilised from a number of players who chipped in and the second phase where a similar shed will be built on the exit side, will push the figure to $12 500.
Said Mr Svovah: “Last week we visited the border when workmen delivered building material of which today I am happy to report that there has been tremendous progress. Poles and trusses have been erected and painted. As we speak they are mounting the roof and the shed will be ready in the next two days.”

Mr Svovah said the idea was to ensure that tourists are not exhausted on entering the country so they can visit many resort areas and book for activities.

“Overally, we want our visitors to be fresh when entering the country so they can explore what we have to offer. We want them to enjoy Victoria Falls,” he said.

Over the years, the industry, led by HAZ, has given mineral water to tourists at ports of entry such as the Victoria Falls International Airport, Victoria Falls and Kazungula Border Posts at its own expense as a way of welcoming them into the country. This was to cool them down from high temperatures.

The holding shed will come in handy especially against the backdrop of the re-introduction of the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Uni-Visa, which facilitates free movement between Zimbabwe and Zambia as well as Botswana. Since the re-launch, arrivals have increased by about 15 percent, authorities said.

Source: Haz mobilises resources to erect shed (30/03/17)

More: Zimra rejects offer for help . . . Tourists suffer at shelterless Kazungula Border (7/7/16)

Livingstone: Vic Falls World Heritage Site Refurbished

Rehabilitation of infrastructure at the Victoria Falls World Heritage Site in Livingstone has been completed in readiness for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) general assembly which starts this Saturday.

The site is home to the Victoria Falls and also houses the Zambezi Sun Hotel, the main venue for delegates to the UNWTO general assembly.

Government released about K6 million for rehabilitation of infrastructure at the site which included erection of an 800-meter steel fence from the Victoria Falls Bridge to Zambezi Sun Hotel, construction of a modern curio market, a contemporary lavatory and upgrading of walk ways, among others.

Speaking during the official opening of the site on Monday, Minister of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Nkandu Luo urged Livingstone residents to guard the structures jealously.

Professor Luo said Government will continue to upgrade infrastructure at heritage sites to attract more tourists and increase revenue collection needed to improve people’s lives.

On the construction of a curio market, Prof. Luo said she is happy that traders, who for years had been selling their crafts in makeshift stores, will now have a decent place to conduct their business transactions from.

Source: Livingstone: Vic Falls World Heritage Site Refurbished (22/08/13)

Livingstone Curio Traders Praise Government Over New Modern Market

Traders at Mukuni Victoria Falls Curio Market in Livingstone have praised the Patriotic Front (PF) Government for constructing a new market in the area.

Curio traders at the Victoria Falls world heritage site in Livingstone have thanked Government for building them a modern market after years of operating from makeshift stands.

The National Heritage Conservation Commission (NHCC) received more than K6 million from the Government to upgrade various infrastructure at the Victoria Falls World Heritage Site which include the construction of the new curio market and the traders, whose makeshift stalls were a few metres from the entrance to the falls, have been relocated upstream of the Victoria Falls where a shop has been set up.

The over 200 traders, mostly from Mukuni village in Kazungula, earn a living from selling their handicrafts to foreign and local tourists who visit the seventh wonder of the world.

Speaking in Livingstone recently, Victoria Falls Curio Traders Association chairperson Patrick Makale said members are happy that they will soon see the completion of a modern market.

Mr Makale said a decent trading environment is important to the traders because it has the capacity to add value to their products and attract more customers.

“We were operating in makeshift stalls where four curio traders would share an old newspaper to display their artifacts. This wasn’t good because customers had second thoughts about the quality of our crafts.

“We’re really happy that Government released funds for the construction of the market and this means our crafts will be even more secure because we will have rooms where they will be kept safe, unlike in the past when we had to hire guards,” he said.

The new market will have 52 stores to cater for about 220 traders.

Mr Makale said although the market is not big enough, the traders are happy with its decency as it is far better than the makeshift ones.

He said the traders intend to turn one of the new stands into an HIV and AIDS awareness centre whose proceeds will be used to sensitise the Mukuni village community on the dangers of HIV and AIDS.

And the curio market’s project manager, Larry Sibulowa, said the construction works will be completed early next month.

Mr Sibulowa of Kalomo Contractors said the works are at 80 percent and that traders should expect a quality structure.

“We’ve just started roofing and we’re yet to start partitioning the stores. We have all the materials here,” he said.Mr Malake, whose members relocated to pave way for the construction of a new market, said in an interview in Livingstone that the new premises would add value and beauty to one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Source: Livingstone Curio Traders Praise Government Over New Modern Market (29/07/13)