Victoria Falls commissions housing stands

Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter

MORE than 1 300 housing stands were commissioned in Victoria Falls yesterday, paving the way for their allocation to beneficiaries.

Last year Victoria Falls municipality entered into a $12 million partnership with CBZ bank to service the housing stands targeting low income earners.

Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Deputy Minister, Christopher Chingosho, commissioned the 1 353 low density and medium density housing.

One stand was handed over to a beneficiary Mr Reason Nyoni, with more allocations expected to start today.

CBZ Holdings chief executive officer Mr Never Nyemudzo said all the stands had been sold out as he invited beneficiaries to start applying for mortgage loans from the bank. Victoria Falls Mayor Councillor Sifiso Mpofu said the completion of the project is a milestone.

The housing scheme has been hanging in the balance as more than 400 home seekers in the resort town were at loggerheads with the municipality over a piece of land, which they invaded to stop the bank from allocating beneficiaries.

However, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere who was in Victoria Falls for the 36th Shelter Afrique annual general meeting on Wednesday said none of the concerned beneficiaries would lose their stands. Shelter Afrique, an organisation that deals with financing of housing projects in the continent, is in partnership with the bank in funding the project. — @ncubeleon.

Source: Victoria Falls commissions housing stands (7/7/17)

What is slowing tourism in Zimbabwe?

 Butler Tambo

TOURISM is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. In terms of global exports, it ranks fourth after energy, fuels and food, accounts for five percent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and six to seven percent of global employment.

In both developed and developing countries, tourism has emerged as a major driver of economic and social development through generating foreign earnings, creating incomes, stimulating domestic consumption and creating employment for both low skilled and semi-skilled workers with a bias towards women and youths in both urban and rural areas.

This article is a continuation from last week where we looked at the policy environment around tourism sector in Zimbabwe, its contribution to the economy and therefore this week we look at why these noble goals have been negated in Zimbabwe and why tourists are shying away from our beautiful country. These factors were cited in the Visitor Exit Survey survey results released by ZimStat and the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry early this year.

High Prices of Zimbabwean destinations

In the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Visitor Exit Survey (later to be referred to as the ‘‘survey’’) for the period 2015/2016 period it was noted that 63,2 percent of interviewed tourists would rather choose another destination to visit because of the high prices of products and services in Zimbabwe. The multi-currency system adopted in 2009, especially the use of the United States dollar is a huge contributory factor as visitors whose currencies were weaker that the US$ (eg those from South Africa, Botswana or Mozambique) found that their holidays to Zimbabwe were expensive because of currency differentials.

This has led to such countries as South Africa advertising Victoria Falls as if it were in their country and creating tourism packages around it, bringing in tourists via Livingstone in Zambia and these people do not even spend a cent in Zimbabwe as they even bring their own bottled water from Zambia and South Africa and after seeing the falls they go back to sleep in Livingstone which is way cheaper than the Zimbabwean side hotels.

The visitors found themselves being asked to pay a US rate for a third world product. Product providers have made the situation worse by retaining the high inflation period pricing models where high margins were the norm. The pricing regime makes it punitive for this market to patronise Zimbabwe by charging astronomical prices.

Differential pricing that saw the Zimbabwe tourism sector over pricing its tourism product has had adverse ramifications on the other anchor elements of the destination, particularly image. The astronomical rates levied on regional and international customers have rendered Zimbabwe uncompetitive.

Additionally, the very high landing fees costs and departure taxes levied by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe were cited as a hindrance to many airlines which may be interested to enter the Zimbabwean aerospace.

“Harassment” by Police

Another growing source of negative perceptions on the destination from the survey was “harassment” of tourists by police. At least 43 percent of the visitors indicated that they will not take their next holiday in Zimbabwe because the supposed harassment that they received from the police during their stay in the country.

Concerns about police “harassment” have been raised in a number of fora and just a few weeks ago the country had celebrated that only four roadblocks would be mounted per province but this relief was soon quashed when Government explained later that what we thought were roadblocks were actually check points and these could be mounted anywhere anytime.

The police were allegedly charging visitors driving foreign registered vehicles in the country for not adhering to local rules which was against the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic of 1968 to which Zimbabwe is a signatory to. The attitude and practices of some police is therefore contributing to the unpopularity of Zimbabwe as a tourist destination.

The introduced Tourism Police Units in major tourist destinations that was made during the late 1990s in the country have totally been overshadowed.

The Ministry of Home Affairs need to take decisive corrective action about the malpractices of some traffic police otherwise the promotional efforts that are being carried out by tourism stakeholders will not yield the intended results.

Poor Infrastructure and other facilities

As many as 31,1 percent of the respondents in the ‘‘survey’’ mentioned poor infrastructure and other services as a reason for not coming back to Zimbabwe. The dilapidated road networks littered with potholes makes travelling very difficult especially for tourists that prefer self-drives. The rail system is almost non-existent with no reliable scheduled departures and very poor conditions and services on the trains.

Lack of connectivity between tourist destinations because of a lack of budget planes, good road and rail networks has also led to the country losing out on marketing of the less known tourist destinations outside of Victoria Falls, Great Zimbabwe and the Eastern Highlands.

Given that the tourists are charged United States dollars for services in the country the qualities of the infrastructure and facilities made the majority of the tourists feel cheated as some of the hotels are in a state of disrepair. Word of mouth is a strong mode of advertising in the tourism industry hence the negative sentiments expressed by the departing visitors will influence a large number of tourists who were considering Zimbabwe as their next holiday destination.

The proliferation of the use of social media by tourists on holiday has also meant that the negative perceptions of the visitors were distributed to millions of individuals around the world making the marketing and promotion of Zimbabwe a Herculean task.

In terms of tourism facilities, the absence of tailor-made financing for the sector has affected refurbishment cycles tourism facilities.

Efforts by Government to assist the private sector to upgrade their facilities by allowing duty free imports for capital goods used in the sector has been hindered by the liquidity crunch being faced in the country which has also led to high interest rates for loans and hence a large number of operators have been unable to benefit from the facility availed by Government.

“Harassment” at port of entry

The ports of entry give tourists their first impressions of any destination. With 14,4 percent and eight percent of the departing visitors mentioning “harassment” by Zimra and immigration officials respectively, it means that visitors’ negative perception of Zimbabwe is intensified the moment they enter into the country. This is a major disservice to the tourism industry as a whole which has been trying to reposition the country as a favourable holiday destination after experiencing negative publicity post-2000. The way tourists are searched and made to queue for long hours at such ports of entry like Beitbridge has created negative energy towards visiting Zimbabwe for holiday makers.

Expenditure

Zimbabwe is punctuated by too many leakages and virtually non-usage of a tourism satellite accounting system in the reporting of tourism’s economic impacts making it difficult to effectively trace expenditure by the tourists.

There seems to be a worrying disparity among tourism service providers on the number of people visiting destination Zimbabwe from the Asian market against what is spent by the same. The targeting of the Asian market seems to have been an exacerbating variable in this matrix since the market does not spend much yet it is high volume. High volumes that yield too little revenue are the Achilles heels of the tourism sector since they literally fly in the face of the ideals and precepts of sustainable tourism. Patrons on group packages negotiate for huge discounts on the hotel rates, and this naturally eats into the revenue. In addition, customers from the Asian market are very low spenders. Finally, most of the groups prefer to use the services of middlemen like tour operators and travel agencies meaning that almost everything is paid for in the home country of origin translating into unimaginable revenue leakages and little revenue coming to Zimbabwe.

In next week’s article, we will now look at what should be done to boost tourism in Zimbabwe.

Source: What is slowing tourism in Zimbabwe? (02/07/2017)

See Also

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (03/07/2017) Tourism receipts in Zimbabwe: Are these low hanging fruits benefiting the country’s economy?

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (10/07/2017) Reclaiming our lost pride: Recommendations for tourism sectorrevival

 

Procurement close for Zambia’s Batoka hydro PPP

The feasibility study has been completed on Zambia’s planned Batoka Gorge hydroelectric PPP project and is currently going through final reviews, the country’s PPP unit acting director has said.

Source: Procurement close for Zambia’s Batoka hydro PPP (29/06/17)

Further information (downloadable pdfs): Development of the Batoka Gorge Hydro – Electric SchemeProject Overview Document

BATOKA GORGE HYDRO - ELECTRIC SCHEMEJune - July 2016 International Investor Conference - 30 March 2017

More from this blog: Batoka Gorge

US$5bn tourism industry for Vic Falls feasible

The government says a US$5 billion tourism industry for Victoria Falls alone remains feasible on the back of the recent boom in the tourism sector and has called upon the tourism players to invest more in upgrading the facilities in order to meet the growing demand.

The Zambezi River god, the Nyaminyami continues to smile on Victoria Falls with most operators acknowledging a significant change of fortunes.

The government has also expressed satisfaction with the recent surge in business driven by a surge in arrivals and increase in airlines flying into the destination.

Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Dr Walter Mzembi says a US$5 billion tourism industry for Victoria Falls alone remains feasible and challenged tourism operators as well as the support industries to up their game in order to meet the demand for more rooms and better facilities.

Dr Mzembi, who toured the Batonka Guest Lodge which was opened last year, said the sector is likely to have a serious rooms deficit, if the current momentum continues.

Meanwhile, the government says the multi-million dollar Victoria Falls Theme Park which is now taking shape will significantly contribute to the realisation of the US$5 billion tourism industry target.

Source: US$5bn tourism industry for Vic Falls feasible (26/06/17)

Tourism receipts in Zimbabwe: Are these low hanging fruits benefiting the country’s economy?

 Butler Tambo

THE Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Visitor Exit Survey for the period 2015/2016 period showed that the main factors that contributed to negative visitor perception of the country included high prices, alleged harassment by traffic police, poor facilities, poor infrastructure and poor quality service delivery. This article then seeks to look at the historical policy development of tourism in Zimbabwe, the contribution of the sector to the economy, why tourists shy away from Zimbabwe and how the country can benefit from the economic low hanging fruits that the tourism industry has to offer.

Historical policies guiding tourism in Zimbabwe

In Zimbabwe the issue of the policy environment has played a major role in shaping tourism development. Before independence, tourism was governed by the Development of Tourism Act 1975 which was administered by the then Rhodesia National Tourist Board (RNTB). The board was under the Ministry of Information, Immigration and Tourism.

In 1980 the tourism sector was part of the Ministry of Information, Immigration and Tourism. In 1982 it was combined with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to form the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism to which the Department of Mining was added in the 1990s. In 2009 the Government created a standalone Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry.

At Independence the RNTB was transformed into Zimbabwe Tourist Board (ZTB) which was responsible for both regulatory and commercial operations. Tourism was then redefined under the new dispensation following the amendment of the 1975 Tourism Act through the promulgation of Development of Tourism Amendment Act 1984. The Amendment Act provided for the formation of Zimbabwe Tourist Development Corporation (ZTDC). ZTDC then superseded ZTB which was responsible for both destination marketing and commercial services.

The ZTDC faced numerous challenges including being a player and at the same time a regulator to inconsistencies in funding. A private company was formed out of ZTDC, Zimbabwe Tourism Investment Company, now Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG). The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority was formed through the Tourism Act Chapter 14:20 of 1996.

In a 2013 Report entitled Positioning the Zimbabwe tourism sector for growth: Issues and challenges by Sanderson Abel and others, the policy changes that were effected in terms of the location of the sector reflected the general Government thinking on the role of tourism in the economic development of the country at each specific time in the country’s political history.

For example, before independence tourism was combined with information because it was used as a propaganda tool for the settler regime. The changes that occurred in 1982 were informed by the realisation that the sustainability of the sector depended on the successful implementation of natural resources conservation programmes.

Post-independence tourism marketing (1980-1984)

The focus of the marketing strategy for the period after independence was to position the country as a new African destination. Marketing programmes were geared at establishing market presence in the traditional source markets like the United Kingdom, Germany, North America, South Africa and Australia.

Tourist offices were opened in these areas to service the needs of the travel trade and to create public awareness of the new destination. The country used the positioning statement ‘‘ZIMBABWE: WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED’’ in its promotional material in a bid to raise curiosity about the destination in the source markets. The marketing activities undertaken by the Zimbabwe Tourist Board resulted in noticeable increase in tourist arrivals to the country.

The period of stable growth (1985-1999)

It was characterised by marketing programmes that were aimed at consolidation of market share in the traditional source markets, exploring of niche markets in the same areas and penetration of new markets. It was during this period that the country expanded its promotional activities to new markets like France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and New Zealand.

The marketing programmes also focused on special interest markets like conferences and incentives. The main thrust during the period was the establishment of partnership programmes with tour operators in the source market who were dedicated in packaging holidays to Zimbabwe.

The country changed its positioning statement to ‘‘ZIMBABWE AFRICA’S PARADISE’’. The change was meant to reflect the country’s competitive position in Africa as a preferred holiday destination in the continent. The industry witnessed continuous growth with direct employment in the sector reaching 200 000 in 1999.

The period of stagnation and decline (2000-2008)

The marketing programmes that ZTA embarked on during the period were driven by the need to respond to the market perception of the country as an unsafe and politically unstable destination.

The negative publicity that the country received during and after the implementation of the land reform programme was such that the destination was viewed by tourists in the traditional source markets as a “No Go Area”. ZTA repositioned its marketing efforts and focused attention on the Eastern markets with countries like China, Malaysia and Russia as the key targets.

The refocusing of the marketing strategy was in line with the country’s “Look East Policy”. The macro-economic environment obtaining in the country during the period rendered the marketing activities almost ineffective. For example Zimbabwe market share of tourists’ arrivals to the Sadc region declined from 16 percent in 2000 to 9,5 percent in 2008.

The period of recovery (2009-2013)

The establishment of the inclusive Government helped to improve the image of the country. The marketing thrust of ZTA has been on re-establishing links with key tour operators and decision makers in both the old and new source markets. Besides participating in the major travel shows around the world, ZTA has also expanded its media and travel trade familiarisation programmes in order to ensure continued improvement of the country’s image in the source markets. A new positioning statement ‘‘ZIMBABWE A WORLD OF WONDERS’’ has been adopted and is being used in all the country’s promotional material.

Contribution of tourism to economic development in Zimbabwe

There is an increasing consensus on the importance of tourism in Zimbabwe as a strategic sector in the national economy insofar as it makes an essential contribution to the economic well, being of the resident population and to the economic objectives of the Government. However, measuring the contribution of tourism to growth remains a challenge in the absence of a Tourism Satellite Accounting (TSA) system like in Zimbabwe.

The TSA system is very important for the effective tracking and efficient accounting of the contribution of tourism to growth and all the flow through effects of tourism. The system is further used to observe the linkages between supplies of goods and services in the economy and to show how supply of goods and services interacts with other economic activities.

Over the period 2004-2006 tourism contribution to GDP averaged below five percent rising to 11,5 percent in 2008, on the back of the various marketing activities by ZTA. However, it declined to seven percent in 2010 on the back of rising challenges related to limited airline connectivity. The sector’s capital investments averaged 8,5 percent between 2004 and 2008, before falling to 6,5 percent in 2010. Tourism contribution to export earnings has been high averaging 15,86 percent from 2004 to 2010.

Since 1980, tourism arrivals have been increasing yearly at an average rate of 17,5 percent. The first drop by 11 percent was recorded between 1999 and 2000. The following years (1996-2008) were marked by fluctuations in numbers of arrivals, rather than the growth trend that was experienced from 1980-1999.

The sector suffered a major setback in 2000 when countries like Britain, Germany and the USA issued travel advisories to their citizenry to avoid Zimbabwe for safety and security concerns. The tourism sector experienced a ping pong nose dive characterised by very low international arrivals, capacity under-utilisation, economic sanctions, political and economic instability, bad publicity, and withdrawal of airline carriers, hyperinflation, shortage of basic commodities and fuel, and negative market perception.

After 2009 the tourism sector has experienced an upward trend in international arrivals from 1,2 million arrivals in 2009 to 2,1 million in 2015 Arrivals began to peak again from 2009, where arrivals rose by three percent and in 2010 by 11 percent. The growth pattern continued into 2011 where a growth rate of eight percent was recorded.

Additionally, the tourism receipts were depressed during the period 2000–2005, mainly on the back of negative publicity following the country’s land reform programme. After 2005 the tourism receipts took an upward trend. The tourism receipts have increased from a low of US$61 million in 2003 to US$662 million in 2011.

In the next article we will look at some of the major reasons in detail why tourists shy away from Zimbabwe even though it boasts of the best climate in the world and some of the most breath-taking resort areas.

Source: Tourism receipts in Zimbabwe: Are these low hanging fruits benefiting the country’s economy? (25/06/2017)

See Also

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (03/07/2017) What is slowing tourism in Zimbabwe?

Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (10/07/2017) Reclaiming our lost pride: Recommendations for tourism sector revival

 

Zimbabwe's ‘Disneyland’ At Victoria Falls Gets Beijing Investment

Zimbabwe just got one step closer to its dream of building a “Disneyland in Africa,” at the site of Victoria Falls, one of the world's biggest waterfalls. Zimbabwe’s Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi tells Newsweek that the country has signed a “memorandum of understanding” with Chinese investors to carry out a feasibility study and draw up a masterplan for the project, first proposed in 2013 as a $300 million-park with hotels, entertainment parks and restaurants.

Mzembi says that the project will contribute to building a $5 billion tourism industry in Zimbabwe by 2020. That would mean a five-fold increase on 2016's figures, when the government stated 2016 that tourism was worth $1 billion.

The United States, European Union and others imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe following the implementation of its controversial land reform program in 2000—which included the forcible seizure of white-owned farms—and Mzembi says that had a devastating effect on tourism.

However, the minister believes that Zimbabwe’s standing in the international community has now improved, and that the Victoria Falls project can help to revamp its image. “Tourism is a peace sector and tourism is a peace bridge. It has worked for us very well,” Mzembi tells Newsweek. “We are not the bad boy of the world in Zimbabwe any more, not at all.”

China is Africa’s single largest trade partner and has invested hugely in infrastructure projects on the continent, such as a $4 billion railway linking major cities in Kenya.

Relations between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Zimbabwe’s leader Robert Mugabe are close. During a 2015 visit to Zimbabwe, Xi signed multiple economic deals, including one for more than $1 billion of Chinese investment in Zimbabwe’s largest thermal power plant. That year China also canceled $40 million of debt owed by Zimbabwe; in response, Zimbabwe made the Chinese currency, the yuan, legal tender in the country.

Mzembi declines to identify the Chinese investors, but indicates that they would be from a state-run company. He also says that while the Chinese are carrying out the initial preparations, he has received “so many proposals running into billions and billions of dollars from potential investors,” including in the U.S., South Korea and the U.K. “We are not closing anybody out,” says Mzembi, while admitting that the Chinese have a “head start.”

The minister says that the project will focus around a modern conference center, with hotels hotels, villas and a museum also at the site. Victoria Falls is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so Mzembi says that construction will take place at a safe distance so as not to interfere with the natural features of the waterfall.

“It’s time to mobilize that destination and make it compete with other waterfall projects like Niagara, Iguazu and elsewhere,” says Mzembi. Niagara Falls is located on the U.S.-Canada border, while Iguazu Falls is on the border between Argentina and Brazil.

The project marks an attempt to rebrand the international image of Zimbabwe, which has been largely associated with economic malaise and authoritarian rule under President Mugabe, who has been in power since the country’s independence in 1980. Mugabe, 93, is standing in Zimbabwe’s next general election in 2018, despite widespread protests in recent months.

Zimbabwe’s economy is currently in a slump: Unemployment is high, and a crippling shortage of U.S. dollars prompted the reserve bank to start printing its own pseudo-currency—known as bond notes—in 2016. The country has not had its own currency since the Zimbabwean dollar became defunct in 2009 following a period of massive hyperinflation that meant the price of a loaf of bread rose to billions of dollars. The introduction of bond notes has raised fears that the country may be sliding towards another period of inflation.

Foreign tourist arrivals to Zimbabwe increased to 2.06 million in 2015, up from 1.88 million in 2014, according to the latest report from the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. More than four out of five arrivals in Zimbabwe came from elsewhere in Africa, but the southern African country also has big tourism markets in the United States and United Kingdom.

Zimbabwe opened a new international airport at Victoria Falls in December 2016, which it expects to handle 1.5 million passengers per year.

The tourism ministry wants the area to become a “regional hub” for foreign visitors to southern Africa: Victoria Falls itself lies on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, and is also close to Botswana, which is popular with foreign tourists undertaking safaris.

Source: ZIMBABWE'S ‘DISNEYLAND’ AT VICTORIA FALLS GETS BEIJING INVESTMENT (22/6/17)

More: Govt Says Signs 'Disneyland in Africa' Agreement With Chinese Funders (22/6/17)
   $460m Disneyland Vic Falls investor found (3/1/15)
   African 'Disneyland' still planned for Victoria Falls (22/6/14)
   Zimbabwe To Convert Victoria Falls Into Garden of Eden (3/9/13)
   Zimbabwe's 'Disneyland' plans 'inappropriate' (28/8/13)
   Victoria Falls 'Disneyland' on the cards (22/6/13)

Zim signs Victoria Falls 'Disneyland in Africa' deal with Chinese developers

The government has signed a comprehensive agreement with unnamed Chinese investors for the construction of its 'Disneyland in Africa', a tourism and conference theme park in the resort town of Victoria Falls, the tourism minister said on Wednesday.

In 2013, the impoverished southern African nation said it had set aside 300 hectares of land to build a state-of-the-art conference centre to house hotels, businesses, shopping malls, banks, exhibition and entertainment facilities such as casinos near the Victoria Falls International Airport.

The theme park, whose costs have been put at $460 million, is seen as crucial to rebranding the country dogged by perceptions of political volatility and human rights abuses, using the formula that has worked in California, Florida in the United States and Paris in France.

"We have signed an overarching agreement with some Chinese developers for a master plan to develop 300ha of land between the (Victoria Falls) airport and Masue River. We need to drive the convention business and direct traffic to ourselves," Mzembi told journalists at a press conference.

"Already we are looking at 2020 where we are dreaming of a $5 billion tourism sector in Victoria Falls alone." said Minister Mzembi.

Source: Govt Says Signs 'Disneyland in Africa' Agreement With Chinese Funders (22/6/17)

More: $460m Disneyland Vic Falls investor found (3/1/15)
   African 'Disneyland' still planned for Victoria Falls (22/6/14)

   Zimbabwe To Convert Victoria Falls Into Garden of Eden (3/9/13)
   Zimbabwe's 'Disneyland' plans 'inappropriate' (28/8/13)
   Victoria Falls 'Disneyland' on the cards (22/6/13)