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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
THE country’s hospitality industry is pinning its hopes on Meetings, Incentives, Conference and Exhibitions (MICE) for quick revival.

The Covid-19 induced lockdown restricted travelling and gatherings leaving the tourism industry, especially the hospitality sector and conference facilities, with no business as they rely mostly on gatherings.

The lifting of intercity travel restrictions and a ban on gatherings has brought hope for the industry as smaller gatherings started taking place.

However, these are still restricted to 50 people, meaning big conferences may not happen any time soon.

Traditionally, places like Victoria Falls, Kariba, Bulawayo and Harare would cash in on large Government and corporate gatherings as hotels, lodges and restaurants would be fully booked.

However, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) says the MICE concept has been a source of comfort for facilities especially those that take smaller groups that fall within the stipulated public gatherings numbers.

While restrictions have been relaxed, Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu said it was too early to expect business boom in Victoria Falls.

The Government rolled out mass vaccination of all eligible residents of the resort town in an effort to ensure safety and boost tourism confidence.

“We only just reopened and there are still numerous travel restrictions internationally and locally as we still emphasise on social distancing. I expect that in the next three weeks or so Victoria Falls will begin to reclaim its place,” he said.

“Few hotels in Bulawayo and Harare have benefitted from MICE meetings and business conferences. We are getting there but we are still far from being comfortable,” said the minister.

ZTA acting chief executive, Mr Givemore Chidzidzi, said facilities that take smaller numbers that are within the 50 stipulation have been benefiting.

“When the lockdown was relaxed, we saw an upsurge in demand for meetings and hotels started getting busy to provide accommodation, food and everything needed for delegates,” he said.

Mr Chidzidzi said corporate board meetings, weddings and other small gatherings have been taking place at hotel premises but observing strict Covid-19 protocols like social distancing, sanitization and temperature checks.

He said the lockdown affected conference facilities and when intercity travel resumed, there were restrictions on gatherings of more than 50.

“Big conferences that we used to have in Victoria Falls might not come as quickly as we may want because of restrictions on numbers but what we are doing now in terms of our MICE approach is to try and promote hybrid type of meetings where you can have meetings at several venues riding on information technology. This has been an advantage for smaller lodges and hotels that take smaller groups,” he said.

MICE tourism depends on gatherings and generally attracts groups of people. Mr Chidzidzi said the virtual platforms that have taken the place of physical meetings are not a threat to the traditional conferences and business for conference facilities as it is an enhancement and just a passing phase. — @ncubeleon