Covid-19 wreaks havoc in tourism industry

THELivingstone Tourism Association (LTA) has observed that the third wave of Covid 19 is undoing the little progress that was made by the tourism sector during the first and second wave, of the pandemic.

LTA Board Chairman Hilary Kashempa has charged that the third wave has so much impact to an extent that all lodges and hotels that were hoping to open by June and July have been affected.

Mr Kashempa said if there is a total shut down that will negatively affect the tourism sector and consequently the country’s economy.

He told the Daily Nation that the spread of the virus can be felt by the number of tourists arriving in the country.

“The first time coronavirus hit us, we saw the devastating effects to the tourism industry. It was crippled almost to level of full closure,” he said.

“However, thankfully along the line, we saw some determination from the tourism players themselves to try and keep the business running and alive,” he added.

Mr Kashempa noted that there was some resilience from some tour operators who could not give up but opted to stand up and struggled with the business.

“They went above board to make sure the business was active because most of the time the business was down but there was hope that someday things will change and get back to normal,” he said.

“Then there was the second wave which we managed to survive and now there is the third wave which has come with so much impact and negatively affected the sector and operators are not recording any profit. If anything, most of the businesses that were hoping to resume will completely go under,” Mr Kashempa said.