ZIMBABWE has been dealt a triple blow, with recent announcements having a negative impact on airlift into the country, rising inflation and an increase in travel concerns being raised by key international markets.
The first knock came as British Airways pulled its London-Harare service towards the end of 2007. This was followed by Zambian Airways' announcement that it would stop its daily flights between Harare and Lusaka.
Bernard Chiwala, chief corporate development officer for Zambian Airways, said currency fluctuations in Zimbabwe made it impossible to operate flights on the route, making it unprofitable for the airline.
And just a few days later, according to media reports, Air Zimbabwe announced that it would be upping its fares. A report in The Associated Press said a return trip from London would cost ZIM$804m (US$27 000 at the official exchange rate of ZIM$30 000 to US$1). Air Zimbabwe could not be reached for comment on the upping of its fares.
Zimbabwe's Central Statistical Office then released the latest inflation figure for October – nearly 8 000% – the highest inflation rate in the world. The CSO also announced that it had given up working out the inflation rate as the products required for the consumer basket of goods used to work out the inflation rate were no longer readily available.
And just when things seemed as if they couldn't get worse, the UK reiterated its travel advisory against Zimbabwe.
The advisory says: “There has been a general increase in the level of violent crime and a serious deterioration in the economy and infrastructure, making basic services, including utilities and health services, very unreliable. Food, fuel and water can be difficult to find.
“Economic decline has led to deterioration in the provision of basic services. There are frequent and prolonged power cuts that affect the whole country sometimes for days at a time, as well as fuel and water shortages. A water rationing system has been set up in Bulawayo and water is only available for a limited number of hours a day, if at all. It is very difficult to find basic food items such as bread, milk, meat or sugar.”
But the advisory does go on to say: “There has been sporadic, political and social unrest in Zimbabwe for several years. This has affected urban and rural areas, but, so far, the main tourist areas have been largely unaffected.”
Ross Kennedy, md of Victoria Falls Safari Lodge Tourism Group, says the growth in arrivals in the last year, to Victoria Falls specifically, shows that international tourists have an understanding that the troubles experienced in the urban areas of Zimbabwe do not necessary filter down to the tourist areas. “Business is absolutely booming in Victoria Falls and the arrivals from the United Kingdom as well as other key source markets like Italy, France, Australia and Japan are all up,” says Kennedy.
Sue Lewitton & Chana Viljoen
