This week's issues
| Tourism infrastructure needs a leg up |
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| Written by Marcus Tawona |
| Monday, 01 February 2010 12:46 |
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VUMBA – Preparations for the 2010 World Cup in Manicaland province are in a shambles as operators are still to refurbish their infrastructure, while the telecommunication systems also needs to be upgraded. Operators said lack of funding was impacting negatively on their preparations for the tournament and urged the government to disburse some loans to the hospitality industry for refurbishment of infrastructure. “We are failing to upgrade our infrastructure due to lack of capital. Government should come in and allocate funds to the tourism sector,” said one operator who spoke on condition of anonymity. Forest Hills Resort Managing Director, Takura Agrippa Makadzange, said there was need for government to help players in the tourism industry. “We appeal to the government to help us in this regard. Most of infrastructure is in a sorry state and we need to do some massive renovations to meet the world-class standards,” Makadzange said. Tourism players also bemoaned the poor communication system in the province’s resort areas. They said they have been operating without telephones for a long time and blamed Tel One for not attending to the faults. “We risk loosing out business to neighbouring countries such as Botswana and Zambia because we don’t have proper communication infrastructure to help us market our place. Visitors cannot make bookings in time because we don’t have access to Internet,” said one tourism player. A survey by The Zimbabwean last week indicated that most resort areas, including as Troutbeck Inn and Montclair Hotel are operating without Internet facilities, and telephones are constantly down. Hoteliers also complained of incessant power cuts, which, they said, were interrupting their business. They blasted the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority for not doing much to market the province as a tourist destination. |
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