Busy Easter for tourism sector

Chronicle Reporters
THE country’s prime tourism destination, Victoria Falls was teeming with activity over the weekend with Christians visiting for their Easter conferences dominating arrivals.

Other major tourist attractions in the region also recorded a significant number of day trippers.

Victoria Falls recorded significant bookings in accommodation and various tourism and leisure activities mostly from international tourist arrivals.

The Easter holiday started on Good Friday and ended yesterday. The Easter period and Christmas holidays are traditionally peak periods for the local tourism industry as they are characterised by huge arrivals and bookings in resorts and leisure places.

Domestic tourists usually top the travel list during Easter and the festive season.

Since 2020, Easter was subdued because of travel restrictions and the Covid-19 lockdown.

Tourism and hospitality operators anticipated domestic tourists to dominate the Easter period as families usually travel during Easter for holiday purposes.

Traditionally, Victoria Falls streets would be a hive of activity with scores of visitors sampling different activities around the city.

Tourism operators are upbeat that the arrivals were promising as the industry continues to recover from the effects of Covid-19.

Employers Association for the Tourism and Safari Operators (EATSO) vice president Mr Ephias Mambume said the Easter period was generally busy compared to last year, yet still far from meeting pre-Covid averages.

“The Easter holiday this year has generally been busy in terms of tourist arrivals compared to the same period last year. It was a hive of activity in the city with mostly religious tourists,” he said.

“We had domestic tourists who visited for Easter conferences, but many bemoaned the state of the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road.”

Mr Mambume said the numbers were still lower than in the pre-Covid era.

“As EATSO we feel encouraged by the numbers and we think it’s a positive pre-cursor as we prepare for the destination for the upcoming Victoria Falls Carnival,” he said.

The Victoria Falls Carnival is scheduled for later this month and will be co-hosted by Victoria Falls and Livingstone in Zambia.

The annual event used to take place during the festive season but was shifted last year to the Easter period.

Tourism executive Mr Clement Mukwasi said the weather was perfect for tourism hence there were no cancellations for any activity.

“The Easter period was a good holiday for the tourism industry and we hope that as other holidays come through we will have better fortunes. Our figures for Easter looked very well, but the surprising part is we had more international arrivals than regional and domestic tourists,” he said.

“We are not sure what caused a change in consumption patterns. However, we are slightly below the 2019 average figures, but yes the recovery figures are quite good and we are looking forward to increasing those figures as we go deeper into the year.”

Tourists mostly enjoyed boat cruise, high-wire activities as well as organised tours to the gorges.

Operators said since domestic arrivals were mostly congregants attending Easter conferences, a majority of them drove into the city and left soon after the end of their church meetings.

There were also day trippers who visited Victoria Falls for day activities.

Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe local chapter chairperson Mr Chiku Mulinde said they are still assessing the performance of the industry during the period.

When a Chronicle news crew visited Matopos National Park yesterday, sizeable groups of tourist people trickled in to visit Maleme Dam and Cecil John Rhodes Grave.

At the entrance of the national park, there is something new for visitors: an on-the-go braai area serving delicacies.

Visitors are met by Ms Mercy Gumbo who runs the Tshabalala Refreshment Centre and her crew who are busy preparing food on a gas braai.

She said this weekend was the first time that they tried out serving food to visitors and so far it was a success.

Domestic tourism is complementing international tourism as locals seem keen to be visiting such sites, especially those near their cities.

Government’s re-engagement policy is being taken up as evidenced by an increase in international tourist arrivals.

At Maleme Dam, the crew met Mr Sheppard Gobvu on a hiking trail with his friend. The trail takes people around the dam, which is on the brink of spilling, and there are many scenic places.

He said he enjoyed the scenery, but more could be done to maintain the lodges and places where people come and eat.

“It’s always nice to visit such places, but it’s sad to see that the place isn’t being kept as it was before and the campsites aren’t looking as they should,” said Mr Gobvu.

“However, it’s a lovely place and I think the nice thing is the rock climbing and the hiking trails.’

Along the way, the news crew came across Mr Bongani Ncube, a member of the City Baptist Church in Bulawayo who was accompanying some youths from his church to Maleme Dam.

He said the crew arrived at 5AM to get a view of the sunrise.

“It was worth waking up to see the sunrise at Maleme Dam. This a beautiful place to be and it’s so serene and we came here just to enjoy ourselves as a crew,” he said.

At the Cecil John Rhodes Grave, most people were having braais and enjoying the scenic views.

Meanwhile, a total of 52 000 travellers passed through the Beitbridge Border Post during the Easter holidays.

Usually, 8 000 people use the country’s busiest port of entry daily.

The number of travellers rises to about 20 000 during peak periods such as public holidays.

The regional immigration officer in charge of Beitbridge Mr Joshua Chibundu said they were equal to the task.

He said they were clearing an average of 12 000 people daily. Border authorities deployed more manpower at the freight, buses, and light vehicles terminals.

“We are in control but at the same time, we want to advise travellers to follow all the laid down legal channels to process their clearance at the border posts to avoid unnecessary inconveniences,” said Mr Chibundu.

“As a department, we don’t have intermediaries hence we encourage travellers to ensure that their passports are cleared by immigration officers in their presence”.

Mr Chibundu said they had deployed enough security at all crime hot spot areas to ensure the smooth movement of travellers.

He said they have harmonised their operations with their South African counterparts to speed up the clearance processes.

Mr Chibundu also warned parents and guardians against sending their children to South Africa through omalayitsha, saying it is tantamount to human trafficking, which is a serious punishable offence.