BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
THE Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) says hotels operating in Victoria Falls should be allowed to receipt payments in foreign currency, after government outlawed the multi-currency system.
On Tuesday, Cabinet agreed that hotels in the resort town should pay their electricity bills in forex to guarantee power availability.
“What needs to be done is to also let hotels be allowed to receipt in forex for both locals and foreigners. Also, for the tourism capital, Victoria Falls, let it be exempted from load shedding after the compelling to pay electricity in forex. Also, we feel the operators should retain 100% of forex earnings to cushion the bills and imports of other commodities that are not available locally,” HAZ president Innocent Manyera told NewsDay in a phone interview yesterday.
“So it can be a welcome development if load shedding is exempted to the Victoria Falls since they will be paying in forex and tourists can enjoy seamless
experience without power interruption.”
Manyera said the current level of load shedding being experienced in the country was threatening viability of the sector.
“The sector got potential, but without reliable sources of power all will be fruitless. We need power for lighting, kitchen production, laundry and pumping
water, among other things. So without it operations have been difficult. It will be an advantage if Victoria Falls, as a town is rest assured of electricity
and rest assured of charging in forex,” Manyera said.
