The Victoria Falls Hotel, co-managed by Zimbabwe Stock
Exchange (ZSE) listed firms Meikles and African Sun, said occupancy for the
quarter to June 2021, was 66 percent in favour of foreign guests compared to 34
percent local guests.
"The roll out of the vaccination programme in Victoria
Falls will play a key role in confidence building and return of international
tourism," Thabani Mpofu, the company's secretary said in a trading update.
He said overall room occupancy for the hotel segment was 11
percent, up from zero occupancy during the same period of the previous year.
Mpofu noted that the hotel was closed due to measures to
combat ovid-19 pandemic during the period April to June 2020.
Victoria Falls is home to the magnificent Victoria Falls,
Zimbabwe's premier tourist attraction and one of the seven natural wonders of
the world.
The Victoria Falls Hotel is a Meikles Limited joint venture
arrangement with African Sun. In addition, Meikles has a significant
shareholding in the Cape Grace Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa.
According to the Cabinet, as of 10 August 2021, a total of
1, 9 million citizens had received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine,
while 1 061 238 had received the second dose.
This translates to a national coverage of 22,3 percent and
12,3 percent for the first and second doses, respectively.
Players in the country's tourism and hospitality sector are
pinning hopes on the country's ongoing vaccination programme to revive the
sector that has been hardest hit by the pandemic.
Meanwhile, in terms of performance on other group segments,
the agriculture segment saw bulk tea production and export sales for the
quarter were 15 percent below the same period of the previous year.
"Tea harvesting was affected by limited availability of
labour. Most of the available labour was assigned to harvest macadamia nuts and
avocados during the period under review," Mpofu said.
He said the segment will invest in motorised tea harvesting
machines, as the shortage of labour was bound to recur during the same period
going forward.
During the quarter under review, average selling price per
kilogramme firmed up by three percent in US dollar terms from prior year's
average price.
Macadamia nuts harvested during the period were 65 percent
above prior year whilst avocados harvest was 27 percent ahead of the prior
year.
"Last year's harvest was reflective of the impact of
the two year drought experienced prior to the just ended agricultural
season," Mpofu noted.
In the supermarkets segments, sales volume increased by 21
percent for the quarter relative to the same period of the previous year.
Mpofu said during the same period of last year, sales volume
was adversely impacted by stricter lockdown measures implemented by the
Government in response to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.
Group revenue for continuing operations grew by 21 percent
and 198 percent in inflation adjusted and historical cost terms respectively.
Revenue for the agricultural segment was 41 percent and 248
percent ahead of the same period of the previous financial year in inflation
adjusted and historical cost terms respectively.
The company noted that the trading environment during the
quarter was characterised by sustained disinflation that commenced in July 2020
attributable to the exchange rate stability and improved access to foreign
currency by manufacturers of goods.
Mpofu indicated that Covid-19 lockdown restrictions during
the period under review were moderate in comparison to the hard lockdown during
the same period of last year, resultantly, sales volume growth was achieved
across Group operations in comparison to same period last year. - www.ebusiness
weekly.
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