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The Tourism and Hospitality Industry in Victoria Falls has bemoaned the exit of Kingdom Hotel from the resort city. The African Sun Limited (ASL) which owned Kingdom Hotel exited the premises on January 5 citing lease tenure disagreements with the property owner. The owners of the building, First Capital Bank have said they will soon be inviting tenders for a new tenant and the tender process will be open to local, regional and international bidders.

African Sun Limited

The Kingdom Hotel used to have 294 rooms and the Great Enclosure Conference room that could accommodate up to 900 delegates making it the biggest conference room in the resort city. Victoria Falls has a deficit of more than 2 000 hotel rooms and the closure of the hotel has therefore worsened the situation.

The Tourism and Hospitality Industry said the closure of Kingdom Hotel is a great loss not only to Victoria Falls but the entire tourism sector in Zimbabwe. Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe president Mr Wengai Nhau said the hotel closed at a wrong time when the focus is on the recovery of destination Victoria Falls and Zimbabwe.

Mr Wengai Nhau

First Capital Bank managing director Mr Ciaran McSharry said the closure of the facility is temporary and the bank will soon be investing in its refurbishment before going to tender. “First Capital Bank is absolutely not going there, it’s not our business and we therefore leave the hotel to tourism experts,” he said.

Mr McSharry said the aim is to keep the closure period as short as possible. He said the bank was looking forward to long term growth of the hotel which he said had great potential. What is encouraging is that the bank is committed to investing in the refurbishment of the building which means when the new tenant takes over, it will be a completely new hotel that will impact positively on the tourism industry in Victoria Falls.

It is our hope that the owners of the building will also address the shortcomings of their lease which forced ASL to exit the building. Local and international tourism investors have been afforded an opportunity to invest in Zimbabwe’s prime resort city. This is an investment opportunity which requires the investor to just bring in working capital as all the required facilities are available.

First Capital Bank

Zimbabwe is fast becoming a tourist destination of choice and serious investors can therefore not afford to miss opportunities such as taking over what used to be Kingdom Hotel. Many international airlines are already flying directly to Victoria Falls, a confirmation of good business for those that decide to invest in the tourism business in the resort city.