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Regency Fairmile Motel in Gweru

Lovemore Zigara Midlands Correspondent
GWERU-based hospitality concern, Regency Fairmile Motel, has embarked on a $200,000 refurbishment exercise of its rooms as it seeks to position its market share in the hospitality industry.

Fairmile – a three star facility – is a subsidiary of Zvobgo Holdings, the parent company of Regency Flamboyant Hotel in Masvingo, has already renovated 30 rooms.

Manager Pious Tshuma said the renovations, which were expected to be completed by the end of September, have been necessitated by the need to keep up with trends in the hospitality industry.

“We’re in the process of refurbishing our rooms with new furnishings in line with the modern trends so that we give our clientele value for money. Renovating each room will cost $3,500 and so far we’ve refurbished 30 rooms and we expect to finish the exercise in September,” he said.

Tshuma, however, said they were facing liquidity constraints hence they needed a revolving fund at reasonable interest so that they can complete the renovations.

The hotel has also embarked on an aggressive marketing drive as well as an intensive human resource upgrading exercise, which has seen its staff being attached to some of the country’s top hotels.

“We’re marketing the hotel vigorously as the hotel of choice in the Midlands province. As such our service and standards should be commensurate with the service we should offer hence we’re attaching our staff with established five star hotels for intensive training so that we keep abreast with the ever changing trends.

“Going forward, we’re looking at garnering another star so that we become competitive nationally. If the economy stabilises, we’ll embark on a complete overhaul of the hotel and include some services, which are not available yet,” Tshuma said.

Business in the Midlands capital comes mostly from conferences due to its central location as well as from the big mining corporations operating around the city.

Using the safari operators and hoteliers’ lobby group, the Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ), the sector has been strategically positioning itself to increase conferencing business in the Midlands, which brings over 60 percent of revenue in the sector.

Taking advantage of the 5,000-seater Zanu PF Convention Centre about 11km along the Gweru-Mvuma Road as well as its centrality, the HAZ Midlands chapter is strategically marketing itself as a conferencing province of choice.

The province has also witnessed a rise in hotel accommodation by over 100 percent over the past two years.

The province now boasts of over 450 rooms compared to just over 200 rooms in 2012.