Tourism, aviation  industry restrategise for post Covid-19 business Mr Godfrey Koti

Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
PLAYERS in the tourism and aviation industries should use the Covid-19 induced lockdown period to re-strategise and innovate on new ideas to be able to rise again after the global recession.

At the same time, the tourism industry has also implored Government to loosen its demands on airlines that want to fly into Zimbabwe so as to have direct flights to the source markets and develop Victoria Falls into a world tourism hub.

Aviation is one of the sectors worst affected by the global pandemic with revenue losses estimated around more than US$200 billion this year, making 44 percent lower than 2019.

Speaking in a podcast interview on “Ultimate Tourism Chat” hosted by Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) spokesperson Mr Godfrey Koti, Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe (TBCZ) president Ms Winnie Muchanyuka said suspension of airline services as a result of coronavirus had a downstream effect on the whole industry chain particularly in Victoria Falls.

“Zimbabwe destination is a mix of leisure and business and the downward effect of the Covid-19 is that the businesses that feed into tourism like catering, catacraft and others can’t service anyone in the absence of airlines. All catacraft was cut-off completely because there is no air traffic,” she said.

“Airports handling and smaller businesses around airports such as parking, transport, banks, cleaning services were also cut off and these are immediate impacts that you can see,” said Ms Muchanyuka, who is also country director for South African Airways.

She said Zimbabwe, which is linked to the international world through OR Tambo in South Africa, needs to reflect on the future of aviation and tourism.

“There is hope and let’s use this downtime to reflect on effective business models. It’s going to be critical for companies to get back as quickly as possible and start operating again and we should look at areas of improvement especially on efficiency and innovation,” she said.

“It’s crucial at this time as business to take this downtime to reflect and check our system and see how we have been conducting business pre-Covid-19 and use this opportunity to think outside the hustle and bustle of normal operations. We are going to have to cut back, post Covid-19 to be able to recover, it’s inevitable. Businesses at this time need to look at how they are going to market their product and services,” said Ms Muchanyuka.

All passenger flights have been suspended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and Ms Muchanyuka said this inactivity should provide a launch pad for renewed business.

She said even efforts to fight Covid-19 are constrained by absence of airlines as importation of health equipment is affected especially in Zimbabwe where most depends on scheduled flights.

Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) Victoria Falls chapter chair Mr Anald Musonza said the country should cut its reliance on OR Tambo.

“Covid-19 has shown us how our industry depends on other ancillary industries like aviation, farming and others. The moment airlines stopped flying it was like the tap water was cut off as we depend on aviation for the connectivity of our source markets and destination Victoria Falls and Zimbabwe as a whole,” he said.

“This has also shown us the need to urgently make Victoria Falls a tourism hub with direct flights from all source markets like USA, UK and Europe. We have relied on OR Tambo for too long and this is not sustainable going forward as whatever happens in South Africa affects us immediately.

“We hope our authorities will do everything possible post Covid-19 to seal deals with long haul airlines and give them favourable conditions on landing rights so that we have direct flights into Victoria Falls,” said Mr Musonza.

Mr Koti said the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has estimated a US$23 billion potential revenue loss by carriers in Africa and Middle East, with Middle East expected to lose US$19 billion and Africa US$4 billion this year.

This makes a 32 percent and 39 percent drop of industry revenues for Africa and Middle East respectively for 2020 compared to last year. IATA has said airlines will need around US$200 billion from governments to recover from the shock.

Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu said the lockdown is there to ensure the world stops spread of the virus and allow people to travel again.

The new coronavirus outbreak, which has become a world pandemic, saw airlines suspend passenger flights globally rendering airports idle. — @ncubeleon

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