Resorts shine as city hotels limp

31 Aug, 2014 - 06:08 0 Views
Resorts shine as city hotels limp Tourists in Victoria Falls Zimbabwe

The Sunday Mail

Africa Moyo – Business Reporter

Tourists in Victoria Falls Zimbabwe

Tourists in Victoria Falls Zimbabwe

THE latest statistics from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority indicating a 2 percent growth in occupancies at its properties in the first six months of the year highlight a sector-wide recovery, with the country’s major hospitality firms – African Sun, Meikles and Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG) – reporting encouraging gains.

Resort establishments generally performed well though city hotels continued to sing the blues.

Hospitality sector players, however, say the industry has so far this year fared badly relative to the past five years.

Parks and Wildlife Authority public relations manager Ms Caroline Washaya-Moyo said occupancies at its lodges had increased by 2 percent to 24 percent during the first half of the year, though this was lower than annual average occupancy of between 30 percent and 35 percent. She noted that the present “economic hardships in the market” mean that “people cannot spend on leisure”.

Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe president Mr Tamuka Macheka told The Sunday Mail Business that while the first half of the year generally performs badly over the years, it had been particularly difficult this year.

“Occupancies were below 45 percent in the first half and the indications are not right at the moment. The first half of the year has been on the low side, traditionally, but the trend this year has been below our expectations. If you look at Nyanga, Kariba, Masvingo and other areas, the situation has not been good.

“The activity that people talk about is only pertaining to Harare and Victoria Falls, but these areas do not represent the country’s tourism industry. Most parts of the country did not record meaningful business in the first half of the year. The situation is bad but we have not lost hope,” said Mr Macheka.

He urged stakeholders to exchange ideas on how to reverse the negative trend.

The country’s big hotels have performed relatively well. Meikles recently reported that revenues at its two marquee properties rose by five to US$15,6 million in the year ending March 31, 2014.

Revenue per available room (RevPAR) at Meikles Hotel in Harare and Victoria Falls Hotel increased by 2 percent and 15 percent respectively.

In particular, Meikles chairman Mr John Moxon said the group witnessed increased traffic in the tourist resort areas while city-bound travellers were limited.

“The hospitality sector continues to improve. The country’s image and perceptions have to a large extent been corrected and our commendations go to the Government and the line ministry for positively driving this agenda. The country has benefited from hosting the UNWTO General Assembly in August 2013. We witnessed increased traffic in the tourist resort areas while the city-bound travellers were limited in line with the subdued business climate,” noted Mr Moxon.

Similar growth was recorded at RTG, where revenues at Rainbow Towers Hotel & Conference Centre and New Ambassador Hotel (both Harare), Kadoma Hotel & Conference Centre, Bulawayo Rainbow Hotel, A’Zambezi River Lodge (Victoria Falls) and Victoria Falls Rainbow Hotel grew 9 percent to US$27,7 million.

Occupancies climbed 15 percent to 54 percent, while RevPar gained 8 percent to US$39.

As arrivals from traditional source markets recovered, the effects were telling for RTG, which indicated its overall growth in international tourist arrivals topped 26 percent compared to the national average growth of 13 percent.

Things are also looking up at African Sun Limited. The hotelier reported recently that its interim revenues rose 4 percent to US$25,3 million buoyed by occupancies that increased to 61 percent from 51 percent a year ago. Average Daily Rate, which indicates the average realised room rental per day, in the review period jumped 4 percent to US$97 driven by a resilient foreign market.

As is the case with both RTG and Meikles, resort hotels managed to eclipse their city counterparts, with the RevPAR for the former gauged at 56 percent compared with 40 percent for the latter.

African Sun group chief executive officer Dr Shingi Munyeza attributed the increase in occupancies to the high number of major conferences, especially in Victoria Falls.

He said the group was now on its peak period and was registering a 10 percent average monthly rise in turnover.

But Dr Munyeza conceded that the local market “remains depressed and is 5 percent down on last year”.

There are, however, expectations that the sector will rebound during the second half of the year.

Most hotels are revamping their facilities so as to improve their product offering and attract more visitors.

African Sun, for example, has completed capital-intensive refurbishments at some properties and is planning routine refurbishments on six of its hotels, while Meikles Hotel was refurbished throughout 2013 as was Victoria Falls Hotel.

Parks Authorities are sprucing up their lodges to compete with upmarket facilities. Their top lodges are in Nyanga, Victoria Falls and Matopos, in addition to tented camps in Gonarezhou.

Mana Pools is, however, the most preferred camp because of the huge volumes of wildlife in the area.

Currently, the Parks Authority has 256 operational units with 720 beds.

Tourism is a key driver of the local economy with its contribution to GDP estimated at 10 percent and policymakers believe this can grow to 15 percent by 2015.

Last year Government forecast average hotel room and bed occupancy levels rising to 61 percent and 42 percent respectively. Official statistics show that tourist arrivals in Zimbabwe rose to more than 2,1 million last year – translating to US$851 million in revenues – from 1,8 million in 2012.

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