Victoria Falls Jameson Carnival boosts hotel occupancies
THE Victoria Falls Jameson Carnival, which was started four years ago has boosted occupancies in the resort town amid revelations that this year occupancies for the last quarter of the year will average 86 percent.
Responding to questions from Sunday News Business, Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe president Mr George Manyumwa said hotel occupancies have been encouraging and were set to surpass the levels before the carnival started. The Victoria Falls Jameson Carnival is held annually from 29 –31 December.
“As has been the norm, the carnival organisers have block bookings with most hotels and are very optimistic that the numbers will come through as usual,” said Mr Manyumwa.
He said the sector has been witnessing high occupancies for major players with occupancies averaging 84 percent for the past three years and a subsequent two percent increase expected this year. He said the occupancy rates for the fourth quarter of the year, which is usually the busiest season on the tourism calendar, was on 75 percent.
“There have been external factors that affected occupancy levels in the past especially last year like the rand’s depreciation which made the destination more expensive for inbound visitors especially from South Africa,” he said.
Mr Manyumwa, however, added that the last quarter of the year traditionally has higher occupancies due to the holidays during the festive season and companies holding their conferences in the resort town.
This year’s edition of the carnival according to the organisers is themed African Carnival, with performances by Locnville (LCNVL), Good Luck, Sketchy Bongo and The Kiffness.
The carnival was featured by CNN as one of the world’s leading festivals and attracts more foreigners than locals.
The festival brings thousands of adventurous music lovers and adrenaline junkies from Southern Africa and all over the world.
Meanwhile, Harare which usually benefits in terms of occupancies due to festivals is this year likely to lose out as hosting of the Harare International Carnival (HIC) by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) is hanging in the balance.
ZTA spokesperson Mr Sugar Chagonda confirmed that no definite dates have been set for the HIC as the authority was still negotiating with sponsors and