HARARE - Rainbow Tourism Group Chief Executive, Chipo Mutasa, said Zimbabwes hospitality industry was not going to benefit from the 2010 World Cup showcase as there were no bookings in the countrys hotels by tourists intending to visit Zimbabwe during and after the event.
Un fortunately there has not been much business that has been generated other than the excitement we had here over the trip by Brazilian team. We have not seen any increase in business as a result of the 2010 World Cup and this has been a great disappointment to the industry at large, she told RTG share holders attending an Annual General Meeting in Harare last Thursday.
This is a direct contradiction of the companys statement recently when it says it had registered thousands of bookings for visitors during the world cup period.
“We have confirmed bookings of over 50% for our Victoria Falls hotels during the World Cup,” said Eltah Nengomasha, spokesperson for the Rainbow Tourism Group, the second biggest hotel group in the country.
There was also too much excitement by Zimbabwean politicians who were anticipating a huge percentage business from the World cup through the countrys tourism sector.
A decade of political unrest and economic chaos scared off most tourists, with arrivals plunging from 1.4 million in 2000 to 223 000 in 2008.
Since the formation of the inclusive Government last year Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his Deputy Arthur Mutambara and the Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi had been working tirelessly to re-brand the country in an effort to revive the countrys economy through the tourism sector.
The efforts had been derailed by continued violations of human and property rights and the reluctance by some elements in the coalition government to implement the Global Political Agreement.
The country had predicted a huge influx of tourists during the Soccer World Cup hosted by South Africa expecting it to change the country’s fortunes, with as many as 100 000 South Africans expected to visit during the tournament.
Meanwhile RTG said it had incurred heavy losses over the past year despite the introduction of multiple currency, and hopes of getting business they were having from the 2010 World Cup.
Mutasa speaking at the same meeting, said low room occupancy in their Victoria Falls hotels, dilapidation of their lodge division and high lending interest rates had depressed business.
We had a turnover of US$7 million for the first quarter of the year and its an improvement compared to last year where we achieved US$4 million, an increase of about US$3million. Profitability however remains depressed. Some of the reasons were low room occupancy in the resort town of Victoria Falls and low arrivals.
The hotel was receiving about 200 people only against a room capacity of over 1500.
Our lodge division has performed unfavourably although there was a marginal improvement in occupancy. Efforts are underway to mobilise funds to recapitalise the lodge division which requires massive renovations, and engage technical strategic partners who are in the safari operations to manage the business, she said.
Generally the cost of funds that is the interest rates that we incurred for the last four months has translated to an annualised interest rate of 25%,which to us is still far too high and we are hoping that as we go forward efforts will be underway to source cheaper funding, she said.
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