Zimbabwe is endowed with numerous tourist attractions. Every province in Zimbabwe has tourist attractions. Some of them are globally acclaimed. Some of the notable examples are Victoria Falls, Great Zimbabwe Ruins, and Kariba Dam, just to mention a few. If you commit to using every weekend to visit a tourist attraction in Zimbabwe, one year would not be enough to exhaust all of them. Great as this all is it is sad to know that the majority of Zimbabweans cannot afford to access most of these tourist attractions. This is something that must be addressed because the primary focus should be domestic tourism. Let us discuss more.
Victoria Falls As A Case In Point
To illustrate how expensive it can be to access tourist attractions in Zimbabwe, let us look at Victoria Falls. Victoria Falls is one of the wonders of the world but there are many Zimbabweans who have never been there. Even sadder is that the vast majority will never set foot there. I have been there once and the key thing I did was the rainforest tour because of time. It was an unplanned chance tour because I had travelled to Victoria Falls for a meeting. However, I did note that the rest of the other activities are quite expensive. Here are some examples of activities you can do at Victoria Falls and their current costs:
The morning game drive is US$60
The Sunset cruise is US$40
A quad bike tour of Victoria Falls is US$75
Elephant encounter US$100 for adults, US$50 for kids
Lion encounter is US$95
The crocodile farm is US$10
A helicopter ride is US$160 for 13 minutes and US$280 for 25 minutes
Rainforest tour, locals pay US$7 and internationals pay US$30
NB: Those are prices per person
Interestingly, the rainforest tour is priced separately for locals and internationals. I believe that should be the case for all packages to make them more affordable for local Zimbabweans.
Let us suppose that you go for a morning game drive, a quad bike tour of Victoria Falls, a rainforest tour, and a sunset cruise as your day’s activities. That will be a total of US$182. Supposing you go for a lion encounter, visit the crocodile farm, and go for a 13-minute helicopter ride for another day’s activities that will be US$265. These are just activities, meaning food, accommodation and transport costs (to and fro your home) are excluded. Bear in mind again that these are scenario prices per person. Imagine when you want to enjoy all these activities as a family. First scenario activities would be at least US$546 for a 3-member family. Second scenario activities would be at least US$795. It all becomes elusive for most Zimbabweans; a literal luxury. Even by trying to save up over many months, it will remain a pipedream for many Zimbabweans. This is disheartening!
Are These Prices Justified?
I recently saw someone on Twitter pointing out some of the reasons why the prices are too high. They mentioned that it is due to the high operations costs in the tourism industry. They cited things like levies, government taxes, and transaction costs, amongst others. They are obligations to investors or shareholders, human capital costs, and so on. I do acknowledge that these could be contributing factors. Truth is there is a long list of operating expenses for players in the tourism industry.
I also believe that government has a central role in easing these burdens on tourism operators. This is because a significant chunk of the costs is government-related. However, when all things are considered and local Zimbabweans are factored in, these prices are not justified. I strongly sense there is an element of profiteering as well under the guise of ‘we are operating in a tough economy.
Pricing For Tourist Attractions Should Be 3-Tier – Local, SADC, And International
There is a need to have a 3-tier pricing regime when it comes to all tourist attractions in Zimbabwe. There should be special pricing for local Zimbabwe just so long you can provide an identification document. This should be significantly the cheapest. Then those from SADC countries should come next, being a bit more expensive than local prices. The prices for internationals are what should be the most expensive. This is not to discriminate against internationals, we still need pricing that makes sense for all 3 tiers of tourists. Spain, which regularly features in the top 3 visited countries in the world, charges tourists on average 1 Euro per night more than locals.
The problem in Zimbabwe is that blanket prices are used across the board. It feels as if local Zimbabweans are overlooked when you consider the pricing. It is like the most attention is on international visitors. However, this goes against the best approach which should be to make tourist attractions affordable for all locals first and foremost. To achieve this there is a need for multi-sectoral engagement; it can be done. We cannot have scenarios where say, someone stays in Victoria Falls but has never afforded to enjoy the lined-up activities.
Something has to be done to become tourist attractions in Zimbabwe affordable for local Zimbabweans. By adopting the 3-tier pricing, SADC and international tourists can make up for the reduced prices for locals. Government subsidies can also help make this a reality for all Zimbabwean tourist attractions. What have been your experiences, if any, as a local Zimbabwean looking to visit local tourist attractions? What do you think should be done?
