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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
TOURISM industry leaders are excited about the tour of Victoria Falls by executives from American corporates and view this as the beginning of realisation of fruits of Government policies aimed at resuscitating business.

The group of 10 chief executives from America is in the country on an inaugural Roar Africa Emirates Executive Private Jet trip dubbed “The Greatest Safari on Earth.”

The group landed at the Victoria Falls Airport on Wednesday morning and is booked at Matetsi River Lodge along Zambezi River.

Co-hosted by Zimbabwe-born and America-based Ms Deborah Calmeyer and two African most prominent safari guides, Dr Ian McCallum and Mr Humphrey Gumpo, the group did various tour activities including helicopter flights, tour of the Falls, boat cruise, fishing, wine tasting, game drives and others.

Most operators have not had clients for a long time during the lockdown and for Matetsi River Lodge to get clients for two nights is a positive development.

Local operator and hotelier, Love for Africa is a local partner for Roar Africa.

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) spokesperson Mr Godfrey Koti said renewed interest in destination Zimbabwe was in line with the Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy (TRGS) launched by President Mnangagwa last year.

The world is definitely ready to visit Zimbabwe and support tourism growth, he said.

“As the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, we are delighted to have this calibre of visitors. This is obviously aligned to our Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy, which we also launched and rolled last year and it can only show that Government’s policy on Covid-19 prevention and management is beginning to pay off and we are actually deriving dividends from the vaccination programme that was launched by His Excellency President Mnangagwa in Victoria Falls to try and get that city to reach herd immunity,” said Mr Koti.

More than 24 000 people have been vaccinated in Victoria Falls since March when the exercise was launched and the city has reached herd immunity, becoming one of the safest world destinations.

The Roar Africa travellers selected Victoria Falls as their first stop in the 12-day trip that also had Botswana’s Okavango Delta, Kenya’s Great Migration and the world’s last wild mountain gorillas in the forests of Rwanda on their bucket list.

The group will fly from Victoria Falls Airport this morning to Botswana. Mr Koti said the country’s tourism can hope for greater things to come to destination Zimbabwe.

“The idea behind everything is to make sure we present destination Zimbabwe as a safe destination to visit and as a tourism sector we are committed to work with Government in safely reopening other tourist facilities other than Victoria Falls,” he said.

“For now, we are very delighted and grateful to those that organised the trip.”

Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) Matabeleland North chapter chair, Mr Anald Musonza, said the Roar Africa trip was a seal of approval as a safe destination.

He said Victoria Falls qualifies as a bucket list destination because of its proximity to the Kavango Zambezi (Kaza) Transfrontier Conservation Area.

“As we speak, we have top US executives on a private charter flight and that shows how popular Victoria Falls is. The future is bright for our destination and the KAZA region, we just need to ride this tide and we will soon be all happy and thriving with good tourist arrivals,” said Mr Musonza.

The Kaza region is a unique inter-state destination with unique experiences and rich natural resources including the Big Five animals and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

Mr Musonza said most people wish to visit Victoria Falls once in their lifetime making the destination a unique and special destination the world over.

He commended the industry for its resilience during the lockdown, supported by the domestic market in the absence of regional and international clients who have, however, started slowly coming back as travel restrictions are easing.

Love for Africa executive, Mr Emmanuel Tivatyi, said Covid-19 brought the resort town to a standstill as it affected tourism business, livelihoods and jobs hence international arrivals are a confidence booster. — @ncubeleon