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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
AN annual “Future Traveller Sentiment Survey” conducted by “We are Victoria Falls ” group, has revealed that confidence in bookings for the country’s prime destination rose to 74 percent in 2021, almost close to Covid-19 pre-pandemic levels of 85 percent.

Clients’ confidence in booking in Victoria Falls plummeted to 50 percent in 2020 following the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.
The survey report suggests that Victoria Falls is now a safe destination to travel to compared to what it was in 2020 when the pandemic hit the world.

We Are Victoria Falls is an independent, public-private partnership initiative representing the tourism community of Victoria Falls. It was formed under the direction of the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry with support from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a unit of the World bank Group.

According to the group, confidence in booking destination Victoria Falls has risen to 74 percent in 2021.

“This figure compares to 85 percent during the pre-pandemic year of 2019, and the Covid-19 slump of just 50 percent in 2020,” reads part of the report, which was unveiled on Friday.

The report stated that 73 percent of the respondents believed it was now safe to travel to Victoria Falls and that clear robust rules on entry, pricing awareness, flexibility of terms and conditions and ease of access — including direct flights, were key priority areas to accelerate recovery of tourism to the destination.

Compared to previous surveys, travel agents predict growing preference for boutique hotels over safari-camps and a move away from branded properties.

The future traveller to Victoria Falls will be motivated by nature and will travel in smaller groups, mainly older couples, multi-general families and families with older children, says the report.

We are Victoria Falls’ consultant Ms Shelly Cox said: “The data collected from the survey all points to positive signs of increased confidence and that the collaborative efforts of both public and private sector to spur on recovery are coming to fruition.”

On one hand, the survey respondents reported access challenges and lack of direct flights as a major obstacle. However, a number of initiatives have been rolled out to address the challenges.

These include formation of Air Access Development Committee, which facilitated four new routes to Victoria Falls in the last few months, including Lufthansa’s Eurowings Discover with its inaugural flight from Frankfurt expected on March 30.

In September last year, the Pristine Victoria Falls Society (PVFS) was also formed in an effort to transform Victoria Falls into the cleanest city in Africa and a green destination to attract tourists.

The report provides a regular snapshot of data for the purposes of both public and private sector planning, and shows the requirements of future travellers, their demographics and profiles as well as their future demands for product, access and enabling factors in Victoria Falls.

The survey involved international, regional and local agents and is meant to provide data to assist the tourism sector in its planning. – @ncubeleon.