Latest 5-star hotel to change face of Vic Falls

 DANIEL JONES in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

VICTORIA FALLS, (CAJ News) – ZIMBABWE is to add another five star hotel to its catalogue as part of US$3 million investment to create a one-stop shopping mall in Victoria Falls.

Entrepreneur Aaron Chinhara, through his House of Chinhara establishment, is planning the facility for the tourism capital city, Victoria Falls.

Construction is set to start in 2022.

Chinhara has made a name for himself in the fuel industry.

The facility is to change the face of Victoria Falls, according to the proprietors, Glow Petroleum.

House of Chinhara is Glow’s sister company.

“As an operator we want to make the country beautiful by creating beautiful things,” Chinhara said.

“Through our House of Chinhara, a tourism entity that we have created, two projects will start next year in Victoria Falls. I want to think these projects are going to change the face of Victoria Falls because its huge investments.”

He said the Victoria Falls community must “keep its eyes open for another spectacular or two projects, which are on spectacular standards.”

“They are coming to Victoria Falls in 2022 up to 2023. Surely we are not going to build hotels that are already in Victoria Falls, we must build hotels that are not here,” said Chinhara.

Victoria Falls is Zimbabwe’s tourism capital and the gateway into the country.

However, shortage of hotel rooms has been a cause for concern.

The city has a deficit of more than 2 500 rooms, according to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA).

There are also qualms about some of the facilities which do not meet world standards.

Government plans to make Victoria Falls its conference capital and is courting investors to build a convention centre with state-of-the-art facilities comprising five-star hotels, medical facilities, a theme park and motor race course.

The Victoria Falls City Council is also luring investors to build a US$250 million Civic Centre which it says will be in the model of the iconic Mandela Square in Johannesburg, South Africa.

This will include council offices, a hall for meetings and functions, a 5-star hotel, a shopping mall with restaurants and a theme park or city square.

Jacob Mudenda, the Speaker of Parliament, recently implored the government to speed up implementation of the Victoria Falls Integrated Master Plan so as to lure investors into the tourism destination.

Before the debilitating outbreak of the COVID-19, contribution of travel and tourism to Zimbabwe’s gross domestic product (GDP) was 6,5 percent.

Source: Latest 5-star hotel to change face of Vic Falls (16/11/21)

See Also

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (March 2019) $500m investment for Victoria Falls... International hotel chain to set up exclusive leisure centre.

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (February 2021) Zambezi River Scenes Which Inspired Livingstone Under Threat.

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (November 2021) Latest 5-star hotel to change face of Vic Falls.

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (December 2021) Glow Petroleum opens US$1,5m facility in Vic Falls.

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (May 2022) Prevalence of wild animals worries Vic Falls residents.

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (20th October 2022) IHG Hotels & Resorts signs first Vignette Collection hotel in Zimbabwe, Africa.

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (18th November 2022) Six Senses Stilted Eco-Lodges on the Zambezi.

 Read more on this controversial proposal on the Keep Victoria Falls Wild website.

‘Speed up development of Vic Falls masterplan’

GOVERNMENT should speed up the development of the Victoria Falls Master Plan to create an appetite for investment in the country’s tourism capital.

The town is earmarked for national conferencing status after the Government approved the Conceptual Development Framework for the Victoria Falls-Hwange-Binga Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

There are also plans to come up with Masue City on the outskirts of the Victoria Falls City and Batoka City on the Zambezi gorges, which buttresses the combined development of Matabeleland North as a key component for transforming Zimbabwe into an upper middle-income economy by 2030.

The new developments will come with state-of-the-art facilities ranging from five to seven-star hotels, recreational, banking and sporting facilities.

The Victoria Falls Stock Exchange was opened last year to attract foreign direct investment to the city.

Speaking during the 2022 pre-budget seminar in Victoria Falls last week, Speaker of Parliament, Advocate Jacob Mudenda implored Local Government and Public Works Minister July Moyo and his National Housing and Social Amenities counterpart, Daniel Garwe to speed up the development of the Victoria Falls masterplan to make the resort city attractive to investors.

The two ministers had earlier presented papers on priority areas going into the 2022 financial year.

“The Victoria Falls Masterplan has stagnated. The establishment of an offshore financial sector in Victoria Falls will attract so many people once tourism starts picking,” said Adv Mudenda.

He said the resort city had a shortfall of 2 500 hotel beds and investors can only invest in new hotels once the masterplan is out.

“Can we have the masterplan completed as soon as possible so that new investors can come in,” said Adv Mudenda.

He said the development of the Victoria Falls-Manjolo-Binga-Kanyemba tourism corridor, for instance, will spur massive growth.

“There should be massive development and some of you will have to play critical role in this economic corridor. You have done special plans, let’s see action on the ground,” said Adv Mudenda.

Hwange West Legislator Mr Godfrey Dube urged the Treasury to set aside funds in the 2022 budget for the specific Victoria Falls project. He said the integrated plan should be sensitive to wildlife and the environment so as to manage human-wildlife conflict.

“The Victoria Falls Integrated Masterplan is of great importance and we have spoken about it since 2018. It will improve the face of Victoria Falls including Kazungula, which will be incorporated leading to growth of another town,” he said.

“This will also bring in investors especially on accommodation and we anticipate that the tourism industry will rise again in the near future.

“We want the Masterplan to be mindful of the fact that Victoria Falls has to maintain its natural being with controlled human developments,” said Mr Dube.

He implored the Government to seek partnerships with the private sector on these developments, adding that the Victoria Falls City Council, if allowed to retain a percentage of earnings from the Rainforest, can also spearhead development. 

Source: ‘Speed up development of Vic Falls masterplan’ (27/10/21)

Minister warns Victoria Falls mayor

 LOCAL Government and Public Works Minister Cde July Moyo has ordered Victoria Falls Mayor, Councillor Somveli Dlamini to stop interfering in the day-to-day management of the city and concentrate on his constitutional mandate of policy making.

The country’s newest city has since the start of the year been characterised by what residents have termed boardroom fights which saw Clr Dlamini suspending incumbent Town Clerk, Mr Ronnie Dube in April accusing him of corruption, gross incompetence, abuse of office and causing the local authority to lose revenue.

Councillors revoked the suspension before Cde Moyo verbally suspended Mr Dube on 14 May after Dube had appeared in court facing a charge of criminal abuse of duty as a public officer. He is out on bail.

The issue divided council which set up a commission of inquiry chaired by the city’s former Mayor, Alderman Nkosilathi Jiyane.

The commission found no wrong doing by Mr Dube and stated that the charges could have emanated from personal vendettas and lack of trust within council. The commission recommended that Mr Dube be reinstated, which was done.

The commission also said the council has a lot of work to do especially in policy making.

The city’s Chamber Secretary Ms Kholwani Mangena is the acting town clerk in the absence of Mr Dube who is on leave.

In a recent incident, the mayor caused the suspension of City Engineer Sherinah Sibanda in July on similar allegations that included abuse of office, incompetence, failure to service projects to the prejudice of council, failure to provide water as some areas had reportedly been dry for more than six months.

She was also accused of failure to attend to storm water drains and burst sewer pipes, approval of building plan on top of water pipe and charging residents a building inspection fee. Council set up a commission of inquiry which was chaired by Masvingo Mayor Councillor Collen Maboke, a lawyer by profession.

The commission recommended that it was not within the mayor’s jurisdiction to fire the engineer as that should have been done by the Town Clerk in terms of the Urban Councils Act. The engineer was also then reinstated as there was no basis for her suspension.

That followed a council resolution on 19 August that investigations be conducted regarding some issues raised against the town engineer.

An internal memo written by the acting town clerk, dated 24 August and seen by this publication read: “Following the council meeting held on the 19th of August 2021 to investigate the allegations against the town engineer, I would like to advise that from the advice given by our human resources, our organisation does not have experts who have capacity to investigate the issue internally and therefore we will have to get assistance from at least two engineers to look into the issues raised.”

Source: Minister warns Victoria Falls mayor (10/10/2021)

Chombo Free As State Drops All Six Charges

 The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has failed to find any evidence linking former minister Ignatius Chombo to the six criminal charges he was facing resulting in all his cases collapsing.

Prosecutor Lancelot Mutsokoti Tuesday told a Harare Magistrate court the state had insufficient evidence against Chombo...

Harare Magistrate Stanford Mambanje immediately removed the former minister from remand, leaving him a free man.

Last month Chombo was also acquitted in a case he was accused of unlawfully wearing Zapu-PF party regalia.

He was left to answer to one count of fraud and five counts of criminal abuse of office charges after he allegedly illegally parcelled out land to himself and former First Lady Grace Mugabe.

Read more...

Source: Chombo Free As State Drops All Six Charges (05/10/2021)

Victoria Falls Bridge renovations scheduled to be undertaken

The Victoria Falls Bridge renovations scheduled to be undertaken soon following a deal between the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) and a Turkish railway contractor.

Turkish railway construction business Warpi Merkezy, which has operations throughout Africa, is conducting a needs assessment to establish a finance mechanism for NRZ infrastructure maintenance. The Victoria Falls Bridge that links Zambia and Zimbabwe is one of these pieces of infrastructure.

Ali Salih Uslu, Business Development Manager at Warpi Merkezy, claimed that they were looking into more simple and technical ways to reduce the cost of NRZ requirements on railway lines.

This is based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in November following many meetings.

Officials from the company have been in Zimbabwe to evaluate NRZ’s substantial investment in rehabilitating railway lines from Mutare to Bulawayo and Victoria Falls.

“We will assess to reduce costs for the country, but for now, we have no figures,” Uslu said. “We need additional study and have a projects manager in Zambia. Hence we will combine findings to see what needs rehabilitation, even across the bridge. We will know soon, and we will do our best and come back,” Uslu further stated.

With increasing traffic loads over the years, there are concerns regarding the 198-meter-long, 128-meter-high bridge’s safety.

The bridge was constructed in 1904 and completed in 1905 as part of Cecil John Rhodes’ Cape to Cairo railway scheme.

The Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company of England built the Victoria Falls Bridge for £70,000.

Apart from repainting NRZ and Zambia Railways co-owners, no significant repairs have been made to the bridge.

Martin Dinha, the chairman of the NRZ board, claimed that the company’s equipment and fleet were worn out, obsolete, and vandalised in general.

Warpi Merkezy is returning for a second technical visit to assess how they can fit in and prepare a financial plan for railway line rehabilitation and modernisation, among other things.

Dinha remarked in a Victoria Falls interview that he believes the Victoria Falls Bridge renovations project would gain value and will be able to assist NRZ in modernising.

The Victoria Falls Bridge is located in a no-land man’s between Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Source:  Victoria Falls Bridge renovations scheduled to be undertaken (21/09/21)

Businesses in Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls anxious for tourists’ return

 Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls are in full flow this year. The mist from the water hitting the river more than 100 yards below is visible for miles. But the crowds are missing.

“COVID has taken a big hit here; we are basically on life support,” said Gail van Jaarsvelt, who owns retail businesses in the area.

More than 300,000 foreign tourists visited the Zimbabwean site in 2019. A mere 34,000 visited in 2020, threatening the survival of Victoria Falls, a town almost entirely dependent on tourist revenue.

To highlight the importance of tourism, the government offered free COVID-19 vaccination to every adult resident of Victoria Falls in March. Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa made a point of getting vaccinated here, an event that was broadcast live on national TV.

By August, the ministry of health’s Dr. Munekayi Padingani said 72% of the town’s adults were fully vaccinated. As a result, he said, Victoria Falls was spared the deadly delta variant-driven third wave that other parts of the country are experiencing.

“We can say that our vaccination campaign was successful. The number of cases have gone down, and most of our cases are people who are not vaccinated,” he said.

Some airlines that had stopped flying into Victoria Falls earlier in the pandemic have resumed their flights. Farai Chimba, a hotel manager in the town, is also the vice chairperson of the Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe. He said this should boost arrivals.

“We anticipate that as these flights continue to come in and increase the frequency, we’ll also see a corresponding increase in the number of passengers traveling into the destination,” Chimba said. 

But foreign tourists have to deal with travel restrictions in their own countries. So there’s a new focus on domestic tourism to keep Victoria Falls afloat in the short term. Still, van Jaarsveldt said, business owners need to do more to encourage more locals to visit.

“We dropped the ball with that long back,” she said. “We didn’t rate the local market, we wanted the more well-heeled travelers.”

The pandemic has indeed forced Zimbabwe’s tourism sector to take domestic tourism seriously. Chimba said some hotels are offering locals discount packages of as much as 70%. The government has targeted multi-media advertising campaigns and scrapped a consumption tax on tourism products and services for locals at tourist destinations. 

Source: Businesses in Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls anxious for tourists’ return (07/09/21)

Haulage trucks eyesore on Victoria Falls streets

LONG queues of haulage trucks parked on either side of the road just after Masue Bridge is the first thing a visitor into Victoria Falls encounters.

The hearty welcome Victoria Falls is popular for could soon be overshadowed by the ugly sight of the haulage trucks if no immediate action is taken.

Motorists, including tour operators’ vehicles carrying clients, have to reduce speed when approaching the Victoria Falls Truck Stop turn-off as the road that stretches up to Mkhosana turn-off has literally become a narrow strip due to trucks parked on either side.

There are also scores of touts and hawkers making the place an accident zone and a health hazard. Sex workers roam freely at night.

Residents on the CBZ stands west of the Hwange-Victoria Falls Road have to endure the dust which has even become a permanent coat to the interior and exterior of homes.

The place is a hive of activity as hawkers sell water and soft drinks to truck drivers while others solicit for jobs such as doing laundry.

Evenings have their own tale as sex workers have found a hunting ground.

The truck stop which is run by Victoria Falls City Council in a partnership with some private investors, can accommodate between 80 and 100 trucks at any given time.

Many park outside and sometimes there are close to 100 trucks between Mkhosana turn-off and the steep slope towards Masue Bridge.

The city mayor, Councillor Somveli Dlamini, said efforts are being made to find alternative land for parking.

“Our truck stop is overwhelmed by the volume of trucks hence many park outside which is not lawful though. The council is trying to find alternative land, this was once discussed in council but there hasn’t been a resolution,” he said.

Cllr Dlamini could not say whether the city has by-laws to regulate parking of the trucks.

Questions sent to council management had not been responded to by the time of going to print.

The truck drivers will be waiting for clearance to cross the border to Zambia or Botswana.

Some spend up to a month waiting for their documents.

Each truck, whether inside the truck stop or outside, is charged US$15 park fees for the whole period the truck is parked.

Drivers make fire to prepare their meals on the road side, posing the danger of starting veld fires.

The stretch of the road was also a traditional wildlife corridor as animals trek to the gorges.

A long-distance truck driver, Mr Gift Kapamba from Zambia, said they are also affected by dust while parked in the area.

Victoria Falls Combined Residents Association chairperson Mr Kelvin Moyo said residents have complained about the presence of haulage trucks.

“We are equally worried about the issue as it is both a health hazard especially for residents who live on the windward side and accident zone. We have received complaints from residents on the CBZ stands and we feel this should be speedily attended to. The council should provide alternative land for all trucks or come up with by-laws that regulate the situation there,” said Mr Moyo.

“However, there is no justification for people to see this as a hunting ground for commercial sex which we have seen happening. Besides sexually transmitted diseases there is also a danger of the spread of Covid-19 and accidents.”

A similar scenario is found at the Victoria Falls border where trucks block the no-man’s land between the Victoria Falls Bridge and Zimbabwean border and the entrance into the Rainforest.

Tour operators have complained about the issue at various fora saying their clients sometimes have to duck the trucks when walking to the bridge or entering the Rainforest.

Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe Matabeleland North chapter chairperson Mr Anald Musonza said while trucking business is a huge economic activity, it must be supported in a manner that allows other economic activities like tourism to survive.

“That issue needs urgent solution and trucks taken to designated parking sites. They have become a nuisance and blocking smooth movement of people in the city while also damaging roads. We are a tourism capital and the environment should be welcoming hence we need a more orderly parking process,” said Mr Musonza.

The presence of trucks negates the city’s drive towards a clean sustainable green tourism city.

Matabeleland North police spokesperson Inspector Glory Banda could not readily comment on the issue saying he had not been briefed on the situation on the ground.

Source:  Haulage trucks eyesore on Victoria Falls streets (02/09/2021)