Daniel Madamombe
Dynaly Travel and Tours' representative
Dynaly Travel and Tours company’s representative Daniel Madamombe, who recently led a group of Zimbabweans on a tour to Nyanga, told EcoTourism Expert that local hoteliers were also not helping matters as they are charging exorbitant fees compared to their peers in the region.
He said they will from 2020 start organising international trips for locals as this has proven to be cheaper than visiting local destinations.
How often do you organise trips for locals and to which destinations?
Almost every month and mostly Kariba and Nyanga. We also go to Victoria Falls, Great Zimbabwe (in Masvingo) and Matopos (in Matobo, close to second capital, Bulawayo). The trips vary from ‘ladies outing’, ‘couples’ to ‘singles’. However, the only challenge is the economy. For example, Victoria Falls [is a bit far from Harare], so because of the distance, it becomes very expensive for many. People just fail to travel because of the state of the economy, but there are lot of tourist destinations in Zimbabwe. [Apart from Kariba and Nyanga], we also have Mana pools, Gonarezhou, Hwange, Binga, et cetera. We take people to all these places.
When do you see an increase in bookings from the local tourists?
Most people like to travel during the last quarter of the year.
What is the level of appetite from locals to visit places of interest in the country?
The appetite is there, again, it’s only that the state of the economy is not conducive. Zimbabweans want to travel but the economy is bad and also the pricing for hotels is not reasonable in terms of accommodating local tourists. Their charges are even higher in local currency when compared with the US dollar fees. So it’s more than what is being charged to foreign tourists. That is the challenge.
Have you raised such concerns with the Zimbabwe Tourism Association (ZTA)?
They will not do anything; I believe ZTA does not represent us well. They are supposed to represent tour operators, but they don’t.
When did you operate normally?
Things were good when we were using the US dollars. People travelled a lot, because the trips were affordable. Now if you try to organise a trip, the first thing that comes to your mind is where am I going to get fuel (gas)? Where do you get a drum to carry with you when you go to Victoria Falls? So that’s the challenge.
What are the other challenges hampering your operations?
Pricing! The accommodation fees are bad, it’s not for us locals. We are trying to promote local tourism, our local destinations, but you find that its now cheaper to do international tours than travel locally.
So are you now planning international trips? Where do you want to go?
We are currently planning to go to Malawi. Right now Mozambique has boosted its tourism, it’s so affordable. You can get accommodation at $50, double room for that matter, at a three-star hotel. But here, in Zimbabwe, you won’t get a three-star hotel that charges the same amount for bed and breakfast, double.
How much are they charging here for a three-star hotel?
For a double room, it’s between $120 and $160 per night.
What about a five-star hotel?
Most of them are charging an equivalent of about $200 per night, so in terms of our people, how many can afford that even the ones without stars? They are expensive for local travelers.
Do you also arrange trips for international tourists or you are just focusing on locals? Are they coming in numbers?
We do arrange tours for foreign tourists. But not many!
But the government is claiming that there has been upsurge in the number foreign tourists visiting the country since 2017? You are on the ground, are witnessing this increase in foreign tourist arrivals?
It depends where they are saying people are visiting. If its Victoria Falls, of course, because there is no other place where most foreigners visit than Victoria Falls. However, most of those people don’t come through Harare, they are coming through Zambia. So Zambia is even benefiting more than us. Right now, they don’t even use commercial flights that come to Victoria Falls, but to Zambia’s Livingstone, which is less than a 40-minute drive to Victoria Falls. Actor, Will Smith and footballer Neymar visited Victoria Falls through Livingstone. So that means our environment is not that conducive, although people love our country. Our country is very beautiful; we have got some places that are out of this world. I think you have seen how beautiful Nyanga [and Kariba] are.
Do you think enough marketing is being done to attract foreign tourists to others places other than Victoria Falls?
Zimbabwe is a very good destination, what I can say is that we need to market it well. It also needs the government to help, in terms of putting in place regulations that make it easier for tourists to move around, easily. We will get more money as a country, if we charge reasonable prices. What is the point of making the hotels expensive and no one wants to travel to those places? Its pointless!
I understand you also organise trips for school children to places of touristic interest in the country. How many school trips did you do per annum?
Yes, in fact our business mainly came from schools, but the parents can no longer afford the trips. We used to travel 50 times a year between 2013 and 2017.
What about this year?
We didn’t do much, maybe less than 10.
What caused the decline?
It’s because of the cost of living and bad pricing by hoteliers. Traveling is a leisure so if a parent cannot afford school fees, they cannot pay for the trip. However, if things are normal, they can do both (pay for fees and the school trip).
