Zimbabwe's troubled tourist industry

Date: 13 November 2000

Source: New York Times

Author: Anon

Tourism Recovery Programme launched to burnish sullied image. 'Top attractions are safe,' it says.

THE ceiling fans still revolve slowly at the elegant Victoria Falls Hotel, and courtly waiters in tuxedos still serve tea and scones on sunny afternoons.

But here, on a shady terrace overlooking the roaring Zambezi River, more than half the tables are empty.

This lovely corner of Zimbabwe is untouched by political violence but the widely publicized killings of more than 30 people in the run-up to parliamentary elections have devastated the tourism industry.

In the first six months of 2000, the number of "overseas visitors" to Zimbabwe plunged 35 per cent, to 253,551, compared with 390,665 in the same period in 1999.

Lufthansa and Qantas airlines have cancelled their weekly flights to Harare - there simply weren't enough passengers.

Government officials and tourism operators have launched the Zimbabwe Tourism Recovery Program to burnish the country's sullied image and to show tourists that the top attractions are safe.

But given the tensions that still simmer on farms and in urban townships, that will be no simple task. Travel writers and tour operators are being flown in from Europe and South Africa to places like Victoria Falls and Lake Kariba, which sit on the border with Zambia, and to the big cities of Harare and Bulawayo.

Ordinary tourists are being offered rooms at 20 to 50 per cent off. Air Zimbabwe has slashed its round-trip fare from Johannesburg to Harare to about $209, a 50 per cent dip.

Tourism officials say hotel occupancy rates climbed from a low of 20 per cent in June to about 40 per cent in October. Some tourists, particularly those from Australia and the United States, seemed to be taking advantage of the lower prices and relative quiet during what is normally the high season, July through October.

In recent weeks, riots have erupted in urban townships near Harare, where people protesting soaring food prices have clashed with the police. About 1,750 white-owned farms are still occupied by black squatters. And the government has repeatedly ignored court orders requiring their eviction as it works to redistribute fertile land, mostly owned by the tiny white minority.

The problems in Zimbabwe have also created huge headaches for the neighboring countries of Botswana and Zambia, which are politically stable.

Frightened by the news in Zimbabwe, many tourists have cancelled trips to southern Africa altogether. "All the tourist places are quite safe, but even the surrounding areas have had a very big slump because of the Zimbabwe problems," said Francis Mfune, of the Regional Tourism Organization of Southern Africa. "We're praying that the current problem of land, which is real, will be resolved."

"But with that problem still there, we don't expect 100 per cent recovery."

The largest number of foreign visitors have tended to come from Britain, the former colonial ruler of Zimbabwe. But their numbers fell sharply, to 74,000, during the first six months of this year, from 135,792 in the same period in 1999. The number of American tourists has remained more stable, falling to 61,546, from 72,107, over the same period.

Peter Benjamin, the chief financial officer of the Washington transit system, said he consulted the United States Embassy in Harare before deciding to go on a safari in September. He said that he and his wife, who are in their 50's, had a spectacular vacation, white-water rafting below Victoria Falls and canoeing down the Zambezi River.

"I never felt uncomfortable or threatened," Mr. Benjamin said "It was a wonderful trip."

Those in the tourism business are praying that more travellers will follow Mr. Benjamin's lead.