Zimbabwe reopens Victoria Falls for international visitors
Last week, government ministers as well as Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) and Zimparks top brass, visited the country's prime resort town of Victoria Falls to assess the situation first-hand. The officials met with key stakeholders in the industry, aiming to prepare for the eventual resumption of tourism in a safe and sustainable manner.
Tourism operators, reeling in the wake of international travel bans due to the Covid-19 pandemic, are eager to re-open as soon as international travel resumes. however, the sector and government are determined to do it in a manner which ensures the safety of tourists and tourism workers. Government, in partnership with tourism operators, has developed protocols and guidelines to be released to tourism players allowing a cautious, staged re-opening.
In an interview with victoriafalls24, Godfrey Koti, head of corporate affairs for ZTA, stressed that the government was focussed on "health before wealth". Priority has been given to equipping medical facilities and creating protocols for tourism operators.
"We want our guests to know we are a safe, organised destination," Koti said.
All institutions dealing with tourists now have stringent protocols to follow prior to re-opening outlined in Statutory Instrument 90 of 2020 and in accordance with World health Organisation guidelines. hotels and lodges are encouraged to reach out to ZTA to have their facilities deemed fit for opening.
At a meeting with Tourism minister Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu last week, Victoria Falls tourism operators expressed eagerness to get into parks to show the world what Zimbabwe has to offer through social media platforms.
A local tourism
operator expressed eagerness to get in and take footage of one of the
Seven Wonders of the World putting on a show that the world is missing
out on due to Covid-19 travel bans."While people across the world are stuck at home dreaming of their next
holiday, let's show them what this beautiful country has to offer. Let's
show them the mighty Victoria Falls in all its glory," a tourism
operator in the resort town said.
Neighbouring countries – South
Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zambia – have all opened at least some of
their national parks for domestic visitors in recent weeks. The Zambian
side of the falls was re-opened last month.
Further pressure is
being exerted for full opening of national parks for local residents. At
a time when morale has been hit by the Covid-19 tourism downturn,
Victoria Falls residents are frustrated by not being allowed into local
parks like Zambezi National Park or Chamabondo National Park.
As
one resident put it: "We are allowed into the crowded supermarket and we
are now allowed back to work, but we can't go into national parks and
enjoy our beautiful backyard and wildlife."
Zimparks
director-general Fulton Mangwanya, however, has expressed concern over
the downturn in revenue for the authority which is soon expected to
operate as a stand-alone parastatal. Revenue from local residents would
go a long way in providing the authority with some income to fund its
operations through these tough times.
Tourism, one of the sectors
hard-hit by the lockdown, remains optimistic about the future. Plans
are underway on a recovery plan which centres around promoting Victoria
Falls and the Kaza (Kavango-Zambezi) Transfrontier Conservation
Area as Southern Africa's hub for safari travel. The region has a vast
population of wildlife, plenty of sunshine and wide-open spaces where
the incidence of Covid-19 has been extremely low.
The minister
also re-assured the government's commitment to a ZW$500 million support
package to cushion the tourism sector from the effects of the Covid-19
lockdown. The facility is available to ZTAregistered operators through
their banks. Zimbabwe's Matabeleland North province, which encompasses Zimbabwe's
star attractions of Victoria Falls, hwange National Game Park and part
of Lake Kariba, has recorded only six cases of Covid-19 to date of which
three have already recovered.
