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PLAYERS in the tourism and hospitality industry are offering discounted accommodation rates and fees for other tourism activities for locals in a bid to boost domestic tourism. Government and the industry have been engaging in an effort to find ways of boosting domestic tourism which guarantees a quick revival of the sector given the international travel restrictions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The country’s tourism industry has for years depended on international tourists from different corners of the globe who have been bringing in the much-needed foreign currency but following the outbreak of Covid19, international travel has been restricted.

Most hotels and lodges were forced to close as part of measures to curb the spread of the pandemic but Government recently relaxed regulations, allowing partial resumption of activities in the tourism sector. The international travel restrictions are however, yet to be lifted and as such there are no international tourists visiting the country’s resorts.

Boosting domestic tourism is at the moment the only panacea to the revival of the sector. We therefore, want to commend players in the sector for their efforts to try and entice locals to consume their products. In an effort to attract locals to visit and spend quality time at their facilities, some hotels and lodges are offering discounted rates for accommodation and other tourism activities.

Hotels that used to charge as high as US$200 a room per night, have reduced rates to as low as US$50 in a bid to attract locals. The hotels and lodges are saying the discounted rates will run up to the end of the year. The aggressive marketing strategies is what is needed to boost domestic tourism which has been neglected over the years by the sector as a result of high figures of international tourist arrivals before the Covid-19 outbreak.

Government has over the years bemoaned the low figures of locals visiting the country’s tourist destinations but the hospitality sector has been ignoring this because it was enjoying the benefits of international tourists. Government in 2014 launched a domestic tourism campaign aimed at enhancing communities’ participation in the sector thereby creating wealth for the ordinary people.

The campaign was meant to see communities and locals benefiting from the revival of the monuments that would be upgraded to tourist sites where affordable rates would be charged. The low figures of locals visiting tourist destinations across the country has been attributed to high prices charged by tourism operators and we are happy the sector is now appreciating this shortcoming hence the discounted rates. It is our fervent hope that the sector will continue to review its rates in tandem with economic performance so that they remain affordable to the majority of locals.