eBusiness Weekly
Enacy Mapakame
Luxury boat cruiser, the Zambezi Explorer, says business year-to-date has been above same period last year on the back of increased tourist arrivals in the resort town of Victoria Falls.
On average, the Zambezi Explorer, which operates other smaller boats has bookings of 60 to 70 passengers on a daily basis. The Zambezi Explorer itself is a stylish three deck custom built vessel that carries 150 passengers. The lower two decks consist of the restaurant, while the upper deck is the VIP lounge and bar.
“On average we have about 70 passengers on a daily basis, including our other smaller boats. The Zambezi Explorer is especially popular with both domestic and foreign tourists. Both individuals and local companies conferencing here prefer Zambezi Explorer because of its luxury service,” said supervisor Stanford Ncube in an interview in Victoria Falls recently.
The other boats have capacity to hold 80 passengers and 35 passengers offering daily cruises including sunrise breakfasts, lunches, dinners and sunset cruise, which is the most popular along the Zambezi River.
Ncube is upbeat of increased business during the remainder of the year with an anticipated influx of tourists expected in the resort town.
The festive season also marks the peak period for the tourism industry.
In line with this, the company is also diversifying into the tram business, taking tourists for the Victoria Falls Bridge tour to tap into the market. The company is also re-branding to Pure Africa as it gives itself a regional feel and tap into the regional market.
“We are also expecting the economy to stabilise. This will go well for our business. This will be good for all the people we work with such as the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, advertisers and all the other stakeholders. We are positive for a tourism boom,” he said.
For Zambezi Explorer, the festive season will be dominated by domestic tourists while foreign visitors especially from Europe, Asia and United States of America bring more business during April and October. Zimbabwe is anticipated to have an increase in tourist arrivals this year.
In 2017, total tourist arrivals were estimated to reach 2,3 million, an increase of 6,1 percent from 2016 figures of 2,17 million.
