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Brandon Moyo

VICTORIA Falls’ premium lounge, Cotton House is planning to move to a permanent base as part of their means to grow the brand.

 Presently located in the CBD of the resort city inside Rest Camp, the lounge’s management is hoping to move as their present location is already marked for future development. Moving to a permanent base is top of their to-do list before they look to explore other cities.

 Coming up post-Covid-19 restrictions, theirs is a successful story as they have managed to grow from a staff of eight members in the beginning to 27 at the present moment. 

Apart from that, there are other 20 casual workers that come through when there are shows or other events going on.

                                                        Revellers at Cotton Club

 It is also a wholly black youth-owned business with the capacity to host cocktail parties, weddings of up to 1 000 guests and concert shows for up to 3 500.

“It is a result of the NDS1 initiative, (National Development Strategy 1) and our short to medium-term plan is to grow the brand and move it to a permanent base as it currently sits on land already marked for future development before expanding to other cities.

“Ninety-four percent of our staff complement is youths as we try to help keep them off the streets by creating employment and also staying out of trouble with the law,” said the general manager, Nerissa Magutsa. 

Magutsa said Cotton House which is registered with all relevant statutory boards is on a drive to push local and domestic tourism through partnerships with local businesses whenever they host regional artistes with a huge social media presence.

The joint’s ambitious plan to marry tourism and high-quality entertainment resulted in the famed Cotton Fridays which have played host to high-profile acts. While in the past, acts such as DJ Tira and Musa Keys were the preserve of Bulawayo and Harare, this year, they have graced the tourist resort city and staged memorable performances. Major acts are expected to perform at the joint at least once every Friday of the month.