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Leonard Ncube in Victoria Falls
THE introduction of toll fees by Zimbabwe and Zambia on vehicles crossing the Victoria Falls Bridge will lead to an increase in prices of tourism packages as operators try to recoup their costs, players in the industry have said.

The Emerged Railways Properties (ERP), a company constituted by the National Railways of Zimbabwe and Zambia Railways Limited announced last week that it was introducing toll fees effective January 1, 2018.

Haulage trucks will pay $30, heavy vehicles $10, while buses and commercial mini buses that are used by tour operators will part with $7 and $5 respectively.

Reacting to the toll fees, operators who spoke to Business Chronicle said the fees were unfortunate to business as they will translate to price hikes.

“The fees will have a huge impact on our pricing. We have clients who want to cross to Zambia for other activities and we carry them across the bridge. As we go there, we pay a lot of fees including carbon tax, council levy and road access fees and adding toll fees again means our costs are now high,” said Mr Lovemore Machipisa, the managing director of Africa Travel.

He said the introduction of the toll fees at a time the sector is trying to find its feet was not viable.

Mr Machipisa said it was imperative for operators to sit and discuss the issue for a way forward, adding that the introduction of the toll fees is “very unfortunate”.

Tour operators’ vehicles cross the Victoria Falls Bridge several times on any given day as they shuttle tourists around. Another tourism executive, Mrs Barbara Murasiranwa, said the sector does not need additional costs at the moment, as that would result in price increases. Mrs Murasiranwa said the toll fees would derail efforts by operators to remove a perception that Victoria Falls is an expensive destination.

“Any fee that’s introduced above the fees that are currently there is already not good for business. This is what makes people say Victoria Falls is expensive and I think we need to look at how best we can introduce these fees without adding on to expenses that we are incurring as business people,” she said.

Mrs Murasiranwa said the cost of doing business in Zimbabwe was high such that businesses were forced to pass the cost burden to the end user.

“I will definitely add on that fee because I have got nowhere else to take it to,” she said.

Also to be affected will be schools who usually visit the resort town in their buses and cross to Zambia for site seeing. Locals and foreigners who also visit the country’s prime destination for conferences and take time to cross the bridge in their cars will now find it difficult to do so. However, light vehicles with a gross weight of up to two tonnes will be exempt from the toll fees.

Also exempt from the toll fees will be diplomatic vehicles, Zimbabwe and Zambia Revenue Authorities vehicles, ERP vehicles, National Railways of Zimbabwe and their Zambian counterparts. The fee will be payable at the two border posts or at bridge entry points. An independent agent, Road Transport and Safety Agency (RATSA), has been contracted to collect the toll fees following a Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries.

The toll fees will be used specifically for the refurbishment and maintenance of the 110-year-old bridge in order to guarantee its long term existence, authorities said.

@ncubeleon