Hotels, lodges fully booked for Zanu PF conference

Hotels and lodges in and around Masvingo are fully booked for the forthcoming Zanu PF conference scheduled for December 13 to 17 at the Masvingo Showgrounds.

Source: Hotels, lodges fully booked for Zanu PF conference – NewsDay Zimbabwe November 29, 2016

By Tatenda Chitagu

More than 7 000 delegates are expected to attend the conference, according to the party’s provincial chairperson, Amasa Nenjana.

Among those expected are President Robert Mugabe’s bloated security team, local and international journalists, legislators, ministers as well as conference delegates and Zanu PF members.

The usually sleepy city is expected to burst into life before and during the event, while vendors are expecting a windfall.

A snap survey revealed that most of the hotels, lodges and even brothels were fully subscribed for the dates, more than a fortnight before the event.

A hotelier, who spoke to NewsDay, confirmed that reservations had already been made and their facilities would be fully booked for the event.

“Many people have made reservations for accommodation and we will be fully booked days before. If you want accommodation during the event, I am sorry we cannot accommodate you,” she said.

Masvingo provincial chairperson of the Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe, Fredrick Kasese could not be reached for a comment yesterday. However, he is on record saying Masvingo can accommodate 400 guests, meaning there will be a deficit of rooms.

Nenjana said the party had organised extra accommodation at tertiary institutions and schools in the province.

“We have made arrangements for 7 000 beds for our delegates. Some of the complementary bedding will come from colleges and universities, as well as schools in and around the city,” he said at a tour of the venue last week.

Nenjana said 55 beasts and $60 000 cash has been raised so far for the delegates.

Vendors are optimistic of making a killing from the event, while other downstream benefits in the tourism sectors like monuments seeing, boat cruises and game viewing are expected to inject revenue into the local economy.

And not to be outdone, sex workers said they expect brisk business during the event.

“It is an early Christmas for us and we expect to get ‘big fish’ from Harare. These guys are big spenders,” boasted one lady of the night only identified as Rudo.