By Leonard Ncube
The Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe (TBCZ) says the country should adopt a "new normal" approach and allow industry to operate under strict health protocols that include incentivising vaccinated citizens by allowing them to travel.
Tourism has been hardest hit by Covid-19
because of international and local travel restrictions.
TBCZ president Mr Wengayi Nhau said
companies were now contemplating further laying off workers and closing because
of lack of business.
Domestic travel that had shown potential in
the absence of international tourism has been affected by an intercity travel
ban while closure of land borders has also compounded the situation.
Mr Nhau said businesses now understand the
new normal that Covid-19 is in their midst.
He said Government has supported the
industry by availing vaccines and deliberately promoting tourism workers as
frontline workers.
Mr Nhau said Zimbabwe should ride on the
vaccination success story and allow those who have been inoculated to travel as
an incentive, borrowing from international countries, some of which have been
allowing vaccinated fans to watch football matches and enter hotels.
"This now calls for us as industry and
human beings to learn to live in this new normal. We are in trouble and we are
saying to Government, you gave us vaccines, let's try and benchmark on the
international standards where elsewhere like in the US, citizens are being
incentivised to vaccinate by allowing those who have vaccinated to travel and
not get quarantined on return.
"We can also borrow similar practices
in Zimbabwe and open intercity travel and conference facilities and put
conditions that all staff serving guests must be vaccinated," said Mr
Nhau.
He said it was unfortunate that tourism is
fragile and reacts faster to closure and slowly to reopening as people take
time to plan to travel.
Continuous opening and closing of the
industry doesn't inspire confidence in the market.
Arrivals had improved in October last year
and a few months ago when the industry reopened before the recent Delta wave
eroded all gains.
He said some companies had started rehiring
staff as domestic tourism was picking following the reopening of the sector.
"Instead of closing hotels, conference
facilities and restaurants, we can enforce social distancing and allow 50
percent capacity. There is no way we can dream of a viable tourism industry
without land borders especially Victoria Falls and Kazungula because of their
geographical location, they are our golden triangle and unique selling point.
"Let's have a pilot programme of
opening (land) borders and limiting activity to bonafide tourists with Covid-19
tourism visas. That can be a springboard for our industry recovery," said
Mr Nhau.
There is also need for the country to be
pro-active and incentivise businesses and people, to maximise on opportunities
and even attract airlines.
The tourism industry had adopted strict
Covid-19 protocols and is prepared to open, and ahead of that reopening, it is
encouraging members to get vaccinated.
Mr Nhau said tourism's major business comes
from conferences and meetings hence the need for relaxation of restrictions on
meetings, which will save jobs, the economy and sustain the industry until such
as time when things return to normal.