HOTEL and tour operators in the resort town of Victoria
Falls have bemoaned the acute fuel shortages and are calling on government to
intervene and prioritise resource allocation to key economic drivers before the
situation becomes dire.
Victoria Falls, like any other town in Zimbabwe, has been
experiencing acute fuel shortages with black market dealers taking advantage of
the crisis to sell the commodity at exorbitant prices.
Hotels Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) chairperson Farai
Chimba said the shortages were similar to “killing the goose that lays the
golden egg” and were likely to impact on tourism revenue during the festive
season.
“The shortages are impacting negatively on movement of
clients and services that compliment tourism with potential revenue being lost
in the process,” he said.
Chimba urged government to prioritise resource allocation
to key players in the economy and to ensure tourist resorts do not run out of
key commodities like fuel.
“Medium to long-term, there is concern that this will slow
down on our domestic drive for local tourists who would naturally drive into
the resort with the festive season fast approaching.
Self-drive regional tourism has also been reviving well and
we would like to keep the momentum going by being ready to ensure travel
without concern of fuel,” he said.
Employers’ Association for Tourism and Safari Operators
president, Clement Mukwasi said the companies had done pre-payment plans with
fuel stations, but most of them were running out of supplies.
“We cannot do without fuel and if the situation persists,
our sector might be seriously affected.
We have regional tourists who prefer road over air travel
and those people become stranded when they arrive here and that needs to be
urgently attended.
Garages give us fuel because we make payments in advance,
but they can’t allocate us if there is no fuel completely.
The ministry should intervene and make sure that tourists’
services requirements are met with no compromise or delay.”
Most public taxis plying the Mkhosana-Chinotimba route have
been grounded due to fuel shortages.
Fuel is fetching between $11 and $12 cash for five litres
on the black market.
Efforts to get a comment from Tourism minister Prisca
Mupfumira were fruitless as she was not picking calls. Newsday
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