SAA increases capacity to meet demand

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SAA increases capacity to meet demand

Johannesburg (2 June 2022) – South African Airways (SAA) notes the unfortunate decision by Comair to voluntarily suspend all flights, effective 1 June 2022.

SAA’s Interim Chairperson and Chief Executive, Prof John Lamola says, “Having emerged from business rescue ourselves, we empathize with Comair and understand the difficulties caused by COVID and high fuel prices.

“The team at SAA has been working hard to find solutions to help affected customers and is in the process of adjusting our flying programme to add more seats between Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. We are also looking at options to help customers on other routes serviced by SAA, adds Lamola. 

SAA will increase frequencies where possible and use the existing capacity to meet customer demand. Kindly check our social media platforms and website for the latest information. 

SAA advises all customers that the airline’s normal pricing structure remains in place, and during demand periods lower fares are naturally taken up first. Customers can access updated flight schedules on www.flysaa.com

Comair suspends flights pending receipt of funding

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Comair suspends flights pending receipt of funding

Comair has announced that regrettably it is obliged to suspend all British Airways (operated by Comair) and kulula.com flights from Tuesday evening 31 May 2022 pending successfully securing additional funding. The company’s business rescue practitioners (BRPs) have advised that the process to raise the necessary capital is in progress and that there is reason to believe such funding may be secured. Once received, the airline will be able to recommence operations, but regrettably, under these circumstances, the practitioners have no choice but to voluntarily suspend all scheduled flights until the funding is confirmed.

British Airways (operated by Comair) and kulula.com ticket sales have also been suspended with immediate effect. “We deeply regret the inconvenience this suspension will cause our customers. We did everything we could to avoid it. Comair, the BRPs and the lenders are working all out to get the funding in place so that we can resume our normal flight schedule as soon as possible,” says Comair CEO, Glenn Orsmond.

“Comair is inherently a viable business. We have two of the best airline brands in the country. We are on track to carry over 4 million passengers this year and generate R5.3 billion in revenue. We have excellent staff, a modern fleet, good sales and distribution channels and low operating costs, which is why we believe the funding will be secured.” For customers on British Airways (operated by Comair) flights, British Airways’ booking with confidence policy will apply. Details can be found here. Customers may also contact the Contact Centre on [email protected].

kulula.com customers on suspended flights have the option of a Travel Bank credit or can request a full refund of their ticket value. The Travel Bank credit can be used by the passenger or someone else. Customers wanting the credit can e-mail [email protected] and those wishing to apply for a refund can e-mail.

New luxury family villa to open in Victoria Falls

Destination Insider
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New luxury family villa to open in Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls River Lodge will open a new family villa, Exclusive Riverside Villa, in Zambezi National Park, Zimbabwe, on July 1.  

Reservations Manager, Lisa Talocchino, said the villa could be booked on an exclusive-use or sharing basis. The new Victoria Falls River Lodge villa offers two king/twin suites and one family suite and can sleep a total of six adults and two children (17 years and younger).

The villa is built on a raised platform with private decks and plunge pools overlooking the Zambezi River. The bedrooms and sitting areas are air-conditioned and there are fans in each suite. The open-plan bathrooms have a free-standing indoor bath and indoor/outdoor shower.

Each suite has complimentary WiFi, a mini-bar and coffee- and tea-making facilities. The villa has its own dining and lounge area as well as a star bed.

Victoria Falls River Lodge is a privately owned lodge on the banks of the Zambezi River, close enough to Victoria Falls to see the spray in the distance. It is 30 minutes from Victoria Falls International Airport. 

Airline starts scheduled flights to Kariba

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Airline starts scheduled flights to Kariba

A new airline has entered the Kariba route with three scheduled flights a week, bringing low-cost connectivity between the tourism destination and major source markets including Harare and Victoria Falls.

This dovetails with the Government’s desire to improve tourism in the Kariba region which started in 2019 culminating in the establishment of the Kariba Tourism Development Plan.

Improved accessibility was identified as one of the key ingredients for tourism revival in the town which used to see more than 14 000 people passing through the Kariba Airport at its peak in 1999, declining to around 3000 in recent years.

Time-consuming travel by road and the lack of cheaper flights to Kariba have been cited as major impediments to the destination’s growth. It leaves little time for activities.

Kuva Airline was launched today amid pomp and fanfare with hopes that the development would solve one of Kariba’s bottlenecks for growth, accessibility.

Tour operators and residents alike welcomed the new player pledging to support the initiative as it had the potential to grow the town’s economy.

Speaking after touchdown at Kariba Airport, Kuva Airline managing director Mr Stewart Dunlop said the airline wanted to grow with the destination.

“The hassle of getting in and out of Kariba was the inspiration behind setting up the airline,” said Mr Dunlop.
“Yes, the risk is there but I believe that Zimbabwe’s best-kept secret, Kariba, has the demand and we hope everything works out.”

Kuva officials and Kariba tourism players at the welcome ceremony today. Kuva Airline marketing executive Mr Darryl Dzapasi said the airline would link Harare, Kariba, Victoria Falls and Hwange on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays starting on June 1.

Kariba Airport manager Mr Shupikayi Maramwidze said Kariba Airport was the hub for connectivity and accessibility to areas such as Mana Pools and Matusadonha National Park.

“The airport and scheduled flights mean that smaller chartered aircraft can fly to areas such as Mana Pools and the entire Zambezi Valley,” said Mr Maramwidze.

Representing tourism players in Kariba, Mr Quinten De Lange, said the introduction of a scheduled flight was a key step in reviving Kariba as a tourism destination.“As tourism players and Government, it was discovered that a scheduled flight to Kariba ensured easy access to the greater Kariba area including Mana Pools and the Lower Zambezi where there are several tourism facilities that can be accessed through smaller chartered aircraft,” said Mr De Lange.

Operator Mr Cephas Shonhiwa said the new airline gives impetus to tourism growth in the Kariba region.

“There are a few things that need to be addressed, but overall this is one of the best things to ever happen to Kariba in a while,” said Mr Shonhiwa.“The aircraft is the right size for now because other initiatives failed before because the aircraft were bigger when demand was low.”

ZTA engages university students to promote domestic tourism

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ZTA engages university students to promote domestic tourism

The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority will be engaging students at the University of Zimbabwe today, in an effort to promote domestic tourism. Domestic tourism promotion, innovation challenges, and career guidance will be the focus of the engagement.

ZTA Head Corporate Affairs Chief Godfrey Koti said the presentations form part of ZTA’s outreach programmes under the National Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy.

“The primary aim of the presentations is to create awareness amongst students about tourist attractions within Zimbabwe. We have to catch them young and hopefully inculcate a culture of travel and hopefully, this translates to an increased interest in domestic tourism,” he said.

The Covid-19 pandemic adversely affected the tourism industry in the country, resulting in the halting of all international travel. This left a huge void that, from a strategic point of view, could only be filled by focusing on domestic tourism as well as promoting local products.

“The need to educate students on the state of domestic tourism is critical in creating a sense of ownership and pride in being a citizen of this country which is endowed with unique destinations, and flora and fauna that are unmatched in the world,” Koti added.

“Targeting institutions of higher learning aims at grooming a pool of tourism ambassadors and adventurers and explorers in their particular academic pursuits. This will also lead to arming them with career opportunities that are off the beaten track but will create a large pool for the tourism industry to tap into,” said Koti.

Koti also added that “Involving students at such a nascent stage in their studies also serves to induct them into the tourism economy that aims to inject 5 billion into the larger Zimbabwean economy by 2030.”

The national tourism body is targeting students sitting for a cross-section of degree programmes and courses that include tourism and hospitality, marketing, archaeology and their lecturers.

ATP, BDO and AFD to Undertake Comprehensive Post Covid-19 Tourism Assessment in Zimbabwe

Miriro Matema
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ATP, BDO and AFD to Undertake Comprehensive Post Covid-19 Tourism Assessment in Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) (“the implementing agent” of the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry) with support from Agence Française de Développement (“AFD”), is undertaking a Comprehensive Post Covid-19 Tourism Assessment and Strategy Implementation.

The assessment is part of the implementation of the National Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy that was launched by Government in 2020. The tourism sector is arguably the hardest hit sector by COVID-19 pandemic resulting from the pandemic induced travel bans and restrictions which were instituted across the whole world to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Albeit the critical importance of these measures, they led to substantial losses in investment, business, revenue, employment, livelihoods of communities and local economic development worldwide and Zimbabwe was no exception. 

In view of the above, this project’s main thrust is to support and accelerate recovery while building resilience across various tourism segments, levels of development and demographics. Other areas of strategic imperative of the assessment are the impact of COVID-19 on tourism losses in areas of investment, arrivals, revenues, employment, image, growth and more.

The assessment will be carried out across the country focusing on building back big, small, medium enterprises and community-based tourism projects. 

In order to obtain relevant and appropriate data that will inform decision making, the ZTA through BDO Advisory Services and Africa Tourism Partners will be conducting an industry-wide online survey with effect from May 2022.  All stakeholders and partners are therefore kindly requested to participate through completing Covid-19 impact questionnaire to be shared in due course.

Further to this, ZTA takes this opportunity to invite the industry to attend one of the four regional workshops scheduled between 6 and 17 June 2022 in Chinhoyi, Masvingo, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. 

Some of the expected outputs at the end of the assessment include the following:

  • The level of COVID-19 impacts to tourism investment, revenue, employment, etc
  • Community Based Tourism Enterprises Map
  • Tourism Investment Mapping
  • New Tourism Development Zones 
  • Tourism Investment Strategy 
  • Domestic Tourism Strategy
  • MICE Strategy
  • Destination Marketing Strategy

A journey to Zimbabwe will take you through an attractive patchwork of landscapes, from highveld, balancing boulders and flaming msasa trees, to laidback towns, lush mountains and lifeblood rivers. Here you can spot the Big Five (leopard, lion, rhino, elephant and buffalo) in its national parks, discover World Heritage–listed archaeological sites and stand in awe of one of the natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls.

Throughout its past two decades of governmental mismanagement, political violence and economic disaster, Zimbabwe continued to welcome visitors with the same grace and politeness that they were famed for. And as a result those who did travel here usually left insisting that that the country was hands down one of the safest, friendliest and most spectacular countries on the continent.

In 2017 the post-Mugabe dawn that millions of Zimbabweans longed for finally arrived, and their excitement of what the future may hold is still palpable to all who visit.

Tented safari camp to open in Mana Pools

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Tented safari camp to open in Mana Pools

Machaba Safaris will open a brand-new classic safari camp, Mana River Camp, in Mana Pools National Park on May 15. The camp is a temporary camp, functioning for seven months of the year, from May to November

Mana River Camp occupies the site formerly known as Mwinilunga. It has six classic three-module Sahara Lodge tents with zipped entrances. All have a verandah with a view of the Zambezi. The tents have twin single beds which can be converted to king-size on request. There is a bathroom with a flushing toilet, basin and a hot and cold shower.

The guest tents are powered by inverters and equipped with solar lighting.  Charging of phones, cameras, laptops and devices can be done in the central Media Tent during daylight hours.

Activities at Mana River Camp include morning and late afternoon drives and walks.

Air Botswana resumes flights to Harare

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Air Botswana resumes flights to Harare
  • Air Botswana will have two weekly direct flights on Fridays and Sundays during the initial phase and will increase to three times weekly as demand builds up.
  • The airline will also resume flights to South Africa.

Air Botswana has announced plans to resume direct flights from Gaborone to Zimbabwe’s capital Harare and Zambia’s Lusaka. The airline suspended flights to Harare in 2016 in a route rationalisation exercise meant to reduce operational costs on non-profitable routes.

Air Botswana stopped flights to some countries in April 2020 following the announcement of the coronavirus pandemic, as states took measures to prevent the spread of the virus.

The airline will have two weekly direct flights on Fridays and Sundays during the initial phase and will increase to three times weekly as demand builds up. Air Botswana will also resume flights to South Africa, set to deploy its EMBRAER 170 Jet to service this route and some of its regional routes, including Gaborone-Cape Town.

The timing of the flights allows connections between Lusaka, Harare and Cape Town, reducing flying hours for customers. The jet also adds to customer convenience due to its speed, comfort and better catering opportunities.

Luxury safari camp to open in Hwange

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Luxury safari camp to open in Hwange

A new luxury tented camp, Camp Chitubu, will open on June 1 in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. 

The camp is built on a ridge overlooking a waterhole that attracts a huge variety of wildlife. Six spacious Bedouin-style tented guest rooms sleep two adults in twin or double beds with an option for kids. Each tent has a verandah with a view. There is also an open-plan dining area and an outdoor dining and lounge area with an open-air fire pit.

Camp Chitubu is in the Sinamatella region of Hwange and activities include game drives and walking safaris conducted by experienced and knowledgeable Zimbabwean professional guides.

The camp is owned and operated by Mutondo Safaris – a partnership between Southsea Africa and Julian Brookstein Safaris. 

Newly expanded Tsowa Safari Island welcomes back guests

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Newly expanded Tsowa Safari Island welcomes back guests

Following two years of closure and with COVID-19 regulations finally relaxing and flights and tourists returning to Zimbabwe, Isibindi Africa’s newest lodge, Tsowa Safari Island, near Victoria Falls in the Zambezi National Park, is not only open for business but has been expanded and given a make-over during the lockdown period. 

“Expansion plans for the lodge were already afoot as covid struck,” says Isibindi Africa Lodges CEO, Brett Gehren, “but we are very excited with the results – an increased living area and four more luxury tents, to offer an idyllic 16-bed Zambezi island escape. The lodge is only 50 minutes from Victoria Falls, but far enough to be out of the noise and hustle around the popular tourist mecca. 

“The mighty Zambezi River has always captured the hearts and minds of explorers, now modern-day explorers can experience the area’s many wonders for themselves. Located next to Matetsi, the lodge has its own access road through the Park and offers guests the chance to immerse themselves in one of the world’s last great wilderness areas.

“As with all our lodges, every consideration has been taken to ensure that all our eco-sensitive structures have a minimal environmental impact and blend into the stunning natural surroundings. I feel that if David Livingstone had to walk through Tsowa Safari Island today he would feel right at home,” adds Gehren.

Whether relaxing at one of the two swimming pools watching abundant wildlife pass by, exploring the private island on foot with a guide, bird-watching or embracing the amazing water-based activities such as fishing, canoeing and sunset river cruises, every experience at Tsowa is an exceptional one.

It’s also an ideal spot from which to explore the area’s other attractions – game drives and guided walks in the Zambezi National Park, a visit to the magnificent Victoria Falls, as well as day trips to Chobe. 

Almost equidistant from Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Livingstone in Zambia, Kasane in Botswana and the Namibian border, Tsowa is also easily accessible from all South Africa’s major airports.

With four lodges located in some of Southern Africa’s most pristine settings, Isibindi Africa Lodges prides itself on partnering with the communities in which they work.

Through the Isibindi Foundation, the group is involved in several community and conservation projects, ensuring that visitors who stay at any of the lodges are making a contribution to Isibindi’s work and indeed ‘journeying with purpose’. 

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