Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) Victoria Falls chapter chairman Mr Arnold Musonza has said that the tourism industry was hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic as airlines which link tourists to the country have suspended their flights. He said: The industry is bleeding and we need all stakeholders to come on board to ensure survival. The hotel occupancy rate is now at 7,3 percent per day, down from around 45 to 55 percent, that is usually the case during this time of the year. Airlines including South African Airways (SAA), Airlink, Ethiopian Airlines, SA Express, Fastjet, Kenya Airways, Air Namibia, British Airways/ComAir, have suspended some or all of their flights as passenger volumes declined after most governments across the world discouraged or banned their citizens from travelling abroad.
According to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), Victoria Falls is Zimbabwe’s premier tourist attraction which usually records an average of 200 000 tourists a year and around 6 000 per day during major holidays such as Easter.
The pandemic whose death toll around the world has surpassed 10 000 people, with more than 244 000 infections has seen the number of tourists declining which is a blow mostly for hotels and other tourism service providers that rely on foreigners for business.