Covid-19 sucking the life out of tourism, other businesses

Ratidzai Matumbura/Gracious Ndlovu.

Effects of the Covid-19 pandemic that has been ravaging the whole globe for almost two years are starting to sink deep into the business and tourism sector in Victoria Falls and Nkayi.

Restrictions imposed on businesses have since disrupted the normal  modus operandi of business, bringing it to its knees in the process and is proving to be a major drawback for business owners. 

Speaking to Community Podium, the Managing Director of Chancery Tours, Mr Norbet Chikovera, ruefully shared his experiences over the past year which he spent trying to steer the ship against the unforgiving pandemic tide and trying to keep it afloat.  His company’s struggles are reflective of the devastating effect the novel Covid 19 has had on the tourism sector in general. 

“Covid19 has encumbered enterprises, particularly, tourism players. As Chancery Tours, we are obliged to pay for certain licences including the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) licence, Road Motor Transportation (RMT), Route Authority Certificate, Passenger Insurance, Insurance license and a normal Zimbabwean licence. Some of these licences like the ZTA and the RMT are renewed annually and these preconditions require considerable revenue to be met. With our meagre income  over the past year, you can only imagine the strain on the company in striving to keep these licences up to date,” said the visibly worried Chikovera.

“Our companies in Victoria falls depend on foreign tourists but since 2020, borders have been closed and businesses have not been generating significant income. It is a long shot to imagine when things are going to normalise, if ever they will. Our businesses are teetering  on the brink of collapse,” he added.

An aspiring young entrepreneur, Talent Masuku who had started renting a shop in Jabulisa, Nkayi, who saw his his lifetime dream go up in smoke as a consequence of Covid-19, related his agonising  ordeal while explaining how the pandemic cost him his capital. He had to shut up shop and go back to the drawing board due to the expiration of groceries.

“I watched my capital go to waste due to the 2020 total lockdown. Food and baverages in stock expired and I could not do anythng to salvage the situation. I ended up consuming the remaining stock with my family and decided to wait it  out and start all over again when the time is right. The heavy loss I incurred was a hammer blow,” said an unamused Masuku.

Sjabuliso Moyo a freelance tour guide in the resort town is also smarting from the effects of the pandemic on her trade and subsequently, her livelihood and that of others.

Covid19 has resulted in our government prohibiting a number of international flights and this is crippling our line of work. Some tour guides are now being forced to  look into other financial avenues to make a living because tour guiding is no longer sustainable. 

Of course it is a necessary evil to decongest tourist sites to stop the rapid spread of the virus, but it is a bitter pill to swallow for us because a number of people in hotels, parks and craft centres are also losing jobs.
 Potential investors are now shunning tourism as the number of clients has been crucially reduced. This is obviously stunting the growth of the tourism industry and it might have major long term negative effects,” said the freelance tour guide.

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority Head of Corporate Affairs, Mr Godfrey Koti was unreachable on his phone and did not  respond to messages left by the publication.

One business owner also noted with concern that property owners of hotels and other tourism utilities continue being taxed by the government despite business plunging to an extreme low. This has led to many business people opting to leave the field as some are bordering on bankruptcy.