The Sunday Mail
Veronica Gwaze
TOURISM in Kariba, which, like other tourist destinations elsewhere, was affected by the effects of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, is now on the rebound.
The town is slowly coming out of its shell after introducing new activities and packages such as The Zambezi Walk, the Shoreline Bird Watch and Shoreline Canoeing.
Kariba is one of the country’s prime tourist destinations.
Hospitality players in the resort town say the new activities have resulted in an exponential increase in occupancies to 90 percent. Resumption of intercity travel and boat operations has been impactful.
Cephas Shoniwa, the co-ordinator of the recently held Kariba Travel and Tourism (KTT) Indaba, said new tourist activities had provided the much-needed magic wand to boost the sector.
“At the peak of the lockdown, tourism activities in Kariba were non-existent. As stakeholders, we then sat down and came up with a masterplan which we used to turn around the fortunes of this town,” Shoniwa said.
He said the masterplan, which focused mainly on new initiatives, is ably complementing traditional tourist activities such as tiger fishing, sunset cruises, game drives and village tours, among others.
Village tours, dam wall views and visits to the crocodile farm provide alternative worthwhile activities for visitors.
Following the reopening of the country’s borders, enquires from foreign visitors are growing. KTT is presently ensuring that all operators in Kariba are practicing the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s Covid-19 regulations and guidelines to curb the spread of the pandemic.
“As is the requirement, foreign tourists will have to produce Covid-19 certificates. Locals are expected to observe the usual guidelines. We are more than happy with the overwhelming response that we are getting from visitors,” added Shoniwa.
