WHEN LOCAL IS THE 'LAKA' ANSWER: Tough times prompt incentives for tourists

AS the coronavirus grounds aircrafts and stops international travels, the hospitality industry which is one of the most hit sectors, will remain in ‘comatose’ unless they bring local tourists on board.

In Livingstone, some tour operators, in their quest to sustain their businesses and prevent further job losses, are responding to the calls to shift their attention to local tourists as opposed to foreigners, since the world is unlikely to relax travel restrictions anytime soon in view of the global pandemic.

Abseil Zambia is one such tour operator.

It is one of the tour operators that provide nerve-racking activities that call the adrenaline to action such as abseiling or rappelling, gorge swing, high wire and also the flying fox.

The high wire is said to be the world’s first commercial high wire. In this activity, a cable is spanned across the gorge 135 metres long and 75 metres above the ground and a full body harness is attached securely from your back to the cable, allowing a client to take a running dive off the edge of the cliff and soar across the deep gorge like a bird in flight.

The ‘flying fox’, on the other hand, is a cable slide across the gorge and rather than jumping off into thin air, you slide or ‘fly’ across the gorge attached to a special harness before being pulled back.

There is also abseiling, which is a sport of descending a rock face into the Batoka Gorge by using a doubled rope fastened round the body and fixed at a higher point. If one wants to try a change from the more traditional abseiling, they can also try rap jumping, where they descend the rock face facing the ground and keep pushing off from the rock face as they head towards the bottom of the gorge.

Whereas all the mentioned activities are nerve-racking, there is also the gorge swing which the tour operator is famous for.

In this activity, one will freefall for about 50 metres before swinging out into the middle of the gorge.

After several pendulum swings, they will then be lowered to the ground where they can take a track back up to the top of the Gorge.

All these activities are operated on a spectacular site above rapid number seven in the Batoka gorge.

Mulele Sikaneta, who is operations manager at Abseil Zambia, says the company which has suffered huge losses due to the coronavirus that has grounded flights and restricted foreign travels is now focusing on local tourists.

“Abseil Zambia is the only adrenaline provider at this present moment in Zambia and we are trying to promote local tourism for our people in Zambia by making all our activities, including the famous gorge swing affordable for our locals in the absence of international tourists who are highly adrenaline seekers or junkies as they are known,” he says.

Mr Sikaneta said the company has since slashed the prices to as low as K150 for an activity.

“We are currently running attractive specials for our locals with hopes to revive and maintain a normal life as many people in the tourism industry in Livingstone depend on tourism for their income and livelihood,” he says.

He says the company has also gone further to introduce special deals for clients.

“We also have a spectacular site for private functions like dinners and braai parties. Our site overlooks the gorge at rapid seven, viewing the Zambezi river from the top of the gorge - it’s a must see breathtaking view that one will treasure for the rest of their life,” he says.

On any normal day, prices ranged from K550 to K1200 for an activity.

“The site is also good for taking iconic photos such as sunset views and the like,” he says.

Mr Sikaneta who is happy with the Government's decision to relax restrictions and open up the tourism industry says more could be done to make the industry even more sustainable.

“You know, most of the tour operators here, including us, make money from foreign travelers. But since the pandemic and the travel restrictions in some countries, it has been hard to make money and this has threatened many jobs in the tourism sector.

“We are of the view that the Government should consider making this town a tax free zone so that we can be very competitive with our neighboring countries in terms of room and activity rates. As it stands, activities and room rates are cheaper in Victoria Falls Town in Zimbabwe and Kasane in Botswana because of the policies there,” he says.

He wants the Government to come up with conducive stimulus packages for small and medium enterprises in the tourism sector that have been badly affected by the coronavirus.

“It would be nice to have a tax concession from the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) to enable the tourism industry to rebound from the pandemic,” he says.

Laurie Burr is Minor Hotels Zambia general manager. Minor Hotels owns the Avani Victoria Falls resorts and the Royal Livingstone Hotel in Livingstone with a combined workforce of 520 employees.

He says there too the situation is no different.

“...we are optimistic we are doing everything we can in creating packages which will encourage people to return to livingstone. But in the same vein, we are also looking at post-coronavirus and how Livingstone and Zambia are getting ready to adapt to the new normal,” he says.

The two hotels have also slashed their room rates by 40 percent.

Livingstone Tourism Association (LTA) board chairperson Rodney Sikumba recently announced that the association has resolved to continue incentivising local tourism through reasonable pricing for enhanced access to tourism services.

Mr Sikumba said that the influx of local tourists and holiday makers during the Heroes and Unity Day long weekend is a clear indication that the tourism sector can thrive with the support of Zambians even under challenging circumstances such as COVID-19.

The Victoria Falls had a record high of 5,200 visitors whereas the Livingstone Museum and the Mosi-oa-tunya National Park had an impressive 608 and 2, 800 visitors respectively.

“...and enhance its resilience for sustained job creation and economic development, and as such, as LTA, we shall continue to incentivise local tourism through reasonable pricing for enhanced access to tourism services and further invest in the development of additional tourism products for all to enjoy,” he said.

#Check the video of me and my wife indulging in the same activities sometime in July last year.