First Capital eyes quick reopening of Kingdom

BUSINESS REPORTER

First Capital Bank says its hotel asset in Victoria Falls will be spruced up ahead of a local and international tender to find the right partner.

The hotel is currently closed after Africa Sun Limited exited the property early this year as it wanted a longer lease than was being offered.

Ciaran McSharry, the First Capital Bank Zimbabwe MD, told Business Times that the revamp of the hotel will result in a better asset and it was their desire “to keep the closure of the hotel to a minimum”.

“We believe that by doing this and investing in the hotel, we will have a much better asset as a business, to the Falls and as a country by making a right investment and by bringing a long term partner,” he said.

The hotel is jointly owned by the First Capital Bank (50%) and the pension fund (50%).

The hotel has 294 rooms.

The closure of the hotel comes at a time the resort city is bidding to be the destination of meetings, incentives, conference and exhibition (MICE) tourism in Southern Africa, putting pressure on operators to expand their operations and new players to enter the fray and tap into the booming business.

The National Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy has placed the promotion of MICE tourism as an integral component of the tourism recovery plan.

“The hosting of MICE activities such as Conferences, Events, Fairs and Festivals has the potential to bring people and businesses together thereby building trust and boosting confidence in the destination. Engagement will be made with the relevant organisations that had cancelled or postponed scheduled international conferences to have them reconvened in the future,” the document said.