Staff Writer
Victoria Falls’ successful vaccination programme, which has seen the resort city achieve herd immunity, is beginning to pay off as tourists from the region, Europe and the Arab world begin to flock to the resort area.
The growing international arrivals in Victoria Falls come as Zimbabwe’s status as a safe travel destination is being driven by the successful vaccination drive ahead of its regional peers.
Zimbabwe has so far fully vaccinated 1.4 million people and at least 600 000 are still on the first jab.
The cumulative figure of citizens inoculated as of now stands at around 2 million.
Tourism Business Council president, Wengayi Nhau said, the COVID-19 safe destination status for Victoria Falls would see an increase in international arrival in the resort city.
“We want to applaud the government for the efforts to ramp up vaccinations in Victoria Falls. President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched the inoculation programme in Victoria Falls and it is already paying off,” said Nhau.
Activity in Victoria Falls has steadily increased to ease the pandemic agony on the tourism industry in the city.
Last week, Cabinet directed the opening of Kazungula border to fully vaccinated tourists.
This week, the blue train from South Africa returned to Victoria Falls almost two decades after it cancelled the route.
On Tuesday this week, the inaugural Roar Africa Emirates Executive Private Jet Safari, dubbed “The Greatest Safari on Earth”' touched down on the Victoria Falls International Airport.
Under the National Development Strategy (NDS1), government seeks to grow the country to an upper medium income economy by 2030 driven by the mining sector, agriculture and tourism industry.
Though the World Bank has warned that COVID-19 remains a threat to Zimbabwe’s recovery, government is pressing ahead with its vaccination drive to achieve a herd immunity target of inoculating 10 million people in the shortest possible time to avoid further disruptions to industry through lockdowns.
Zimbabwe’s premium holiday destination, Vic Falls has become one of the first cities in Zimbabwe to reach herd immunity leading to government opening up the tourist hub for business.
