Byo Rainbow to re-open next week

BULAWAYO Rainbow Hotel is set for re-opening next week after it temporarily closed in February to pave way for renovations.

The hotel is owned by Rainbow Tourism Group.

The group’s corporate communications and innovations manager Mrs Pride Khumbula said the renovations were progressing well. “Rainbow Tourism Group has advised that the refurbishment of the Bulawayo Rainbow Hotel is progressing well, with the hotel set to re-open on April 8, 2019.

“The refurbishment, which necessitated the temporary closure of Bulawayo’s largest hotel, was focused on the replacement of the hotel’s entire plumbing system and all in-room guest bathrooms,” she said.

The scope of the refurbishment, which is the group’s response to market expectations and in line with its Product Improvement Plan includes the overhaul of the hotel’s entire plumbing system, replacement of the critical in-room fixtures, guest lifts and the overhaul of all 181 guest room bathrooms.

Mrs Khumbula said they had initially planned to open the hotel on March 31 but the deadline was missed because of some “slight” delays in the delivery of some highly specialised goods.

The hotel was temporarily closed at the beginning of February 2019 to pave way for the refurbishment.

“We experienced some slight delays in the deliveries of some of the highly specialised goods necessitating the review of the re-opening date,” she said.

The hotel will, however, be re-opening as initially targeted weeks before the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) starts.

“We will be ready to welcome our ZITF guests to a refreshed hotel,” she said.

This year’s ZITF is set for April 23-27 at the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre under the theme, “Propagating Industrial Growth through Trade and Investment.”

The theme is a rallying call for industry and commerce to explore and cement synergies that promote trade and investment.

Organisers of the trade showcase, the ZITF Company, have said foreign interest in the exhibition has been high with confirmed foreign representation coming from countries such as Malawi, Mozambique and Japan.

From the end of last year, the trade fair company has been engaged in luring foreign participation through among other initiatives one-on-one meetings with foreign heads of missions based in Zimbabwe targeting countries from Sadc, South America, Asia and previously dormant markets such as Europe and North America. —@okazunga