Hospitality sector raises concern over dilapidated roads

TENDAI BHEBE IN BULAWAYO 

 

The hospitality industry in Bulawayo wants the local authority to rehabilitate the poor road network which has made their facilities inaccessible to tourists, Business Times can report.

Most roads, the sector players,  also have no  sign posts.

“If you are serving as a tourist destination, you must be accessible. You must be competitive in the world. So you find out that in Bulawayo all the roads are terrible, potholes are too bad. At times there are no road signs,” Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe national committee for Bulawayo lodges Beauty Bhulu said.

She added: “ So the government and the Bulawayo City Council should do something about the roads so that tourists can have access to the lodges and hotels. As a result we lose clients so we need to put our house in order.”

In its economic blue-print, the National Development Strategy 1, the government has identified tourism to drive economic  recovery alongside mining and agriculture.

In its National Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy, the government is targeting to attain a US$5bn tourism sector by 2025.

She said the lodges had begun refurbishing their rooms to meet international standards although she cited financial constraints as a hindrance.

Zimbabwe is  currently on level 2 lockdown. However, the government has relaxed operating hours and travel restrictions.

This is good news for the tourism sector, which had literally closed and suffered heavy job losses as there were no international travellers in the past two years.

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