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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Manicaland Bureau
PLAYERS in the tourism and hospitality industry are enjoying brisk business, with most hotels fully booked for the festive season. A snap survey by The Herald showed that major hotels like Troutbeck Resort, Montclair Hotel and Casino and Leopard Rock have been fully booked for the Christmas period since August.

Only the deluxe and presidential suites, which many holiday makers find too expensive, were still available at some of the hotels.

Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe vice president Mr Clive Chinwada said the surge in visitors during the festive season was being driven by domestic tourism.

“The bulk of travellers during the festive season are local holiday makers as opposed to the past when foreign visitors used to occupy most rooms during the season,” he said.

He said although most destinations had performed well throughout the year, resorts like Chimanimani, Nyanga and Kariba needed to be strengthened to boost their performance.

“Occupancy rates for Mutare and Vumba is at 66 percent, up from 56 percent in the prior year.

“It is pleasing to also note that other indicators such as average daily rates and revenue per available room also experienced growth. The growth was experienced even before the inflationary pressures the economy began experiencing since the commencement of the last quarter,” said Mr Chinwada. Government has been on a drive to promote domestic tourism to ensure that the sector’s contribution to economic growth increases.

As such, it has come up with a National Tourism Sector Strategy which seeks to encourage tourism at community or village level, is expected to be launched soon.