Tourism to Victoria Falls growing says leading hotel group

Meikles, which operates two of the best hotels in Zimbabwe- Meikles Hotel in Harare and Victoria Falls hotel in the resort town of the same name, says tourist arrivals to Zimbabwe’s best tourism resort continues to grow and bookings for the next six months are very encouraging.

In a statement for investors yesterday, Meikles, which is also listed in London, said occupancy levels at Victoria Falls Hotel stood at 55 percent in the three months to the end of June compared to 45 percent during the same period last year.

Revenue per available room (Revpar) increased by a whopping 42 percent.

Things did not go so well for Meikles Hotel, one of the leading hotels of the world. Occupancies were down from 37 percent to 34 percent and revenue per room declined by 9 percent.

But the hotel group added: “This is a business focussed hotel and forward bookings for both conferences and the business traveller segments are very positive.”

Zimbabwe is under United States sanctions and has been subject to travel bans in the past. Tourism was one of the biggest foreign currency earners before sanctions were slapped on the county.

(35 VIEWS)