Listed hospitality group,
The group has indicated one of its focus areas is enhancing guest experience and consolidating its market share.
At
"
"The refurbishment, which commenced in 2021 with a complete roof makeover, is expected to be concluded in 2022 when the hotel's 100 rooms are refurbished.
Refurbishment of 47 rooms at
According to the group, preparatory work to carry out the refurbishment of eight additional rooms at Great Zimbabwe, including remedial works on the
Plans are also currently underway to refurbish rooms at
During the 2021 financial year, the group also experienced challenges emanating from the adverse impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in travel restrictions across the globe.
But the group's city and country hotels segment remained resilient in the face of the ravages of Covid-19 and remained the cornerstone of the hotel business' improved performance, contributing 63 percent to the group's total hospitality revenue for the year. Its three
The division achieved occupancy of 45 percent for the period under review, a 9-percentage point improvement from 36 percent achieved in the prior year.
According to the group, all of the hotels under this division recorded profits except for the Monomotapa hotel which was operating below break-even occupancy.
The main source of income for this division was mainly conferencing business from Government, quasi-Government,
Resort hotels, according to the group, were the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic as they rely predominantly on international tourists.
On a positive note, all hotels in the division have been on a steady recovery, closing the year with an occupancy of 19 percent compared to 12 percent posted in the prior year largely driven by conferences and festive season business after the Government lifted inter provincial travel restrictions.
The segment's focus was on the domestic market under the "Rediscover Zimbabwe" campaign that was the dominant travel theme during 2021 to promote domestic travel.
Mr Saungweme indicated the strategy was to counter the depressed international arrivals which resulted in the segment realizing only 7 percent of its room nights sold from international travellers relative to 55 percent realised in 2019.
The group remains optimistic that the fortunes of the resort hotels will gradually improve in 2022 as the international market further opens and offset the negative impacts felt in the prior year when international tourist arrivals in
Resultantly, the tourism and hospitality sector was heavily anchored by the domestic market during 2021. International room nights for our hotels were 26 percent lower than last year according to the
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