Zimbabwe’s tourism industry has blamed the heavy presence of police roadblocks along the country’s major highways, the cash crisis and poor services at border entry checkpoints for decreasing hotel occupancy levels.

The Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) anticipates a seven percentage point decrease in national hotel occupancy, from 42% to 35%, in the first half of this year, owing to challenges in the tourism industry.

HAZ president, George Manyumwa said the decrease would have a negative bearing on players in the hospitality sector.

“In terms of occupancies for Q1 (first quarter) January to March, there was an increase in occupancies from 41% to 42%. But my worry is, when I look at the figures from May to June, we have had a drop. So we are anticipating a drop in occupancies.”

Manyumwa said the average daily rate had dropped by 5% this year while the revenue per available room also plunged from US$39 to US$36.

He attributed the drop to several trends hampering the ease of doing business in the country, citing heavy presence of police roadblocks along the country’s major highways, the cash crisis and poor services at border checkpoints as the major impediments.

“Our sector has of late been encountering several factors that are pulling against our efforts to promote tourism. Police roadblocks are one of the biggest challenges,” said Manyumwa, adding that at the Beitbridge border post, travellers could spend up to 11 hours at the point of entry.

He said the association had raised their concerns with the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality, Walter Mzembi.

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