Hoteliers in the eastern highlands are re-opening their doors to visitors for the first time in nearly three months since the country went into lockdown with business no-longer usual as staff and visitors alike will have to adhere to safety guideline to combat the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
Manicaland is the country’s tourism flagship province with its naturally curved picturesque landscape which attracts a lot of domestic tourism particularly at this juncture when borders are closed to outsiders.
Social distancing, hand sanitizing and thorough disinfection of high touch areas are among some of the guidelines to be adhered to.
Holiday Inn Mutare has already resumed operations under its holding company, African Sun’s Phase One guidelines.
The Group’s other hotel; Troutbeck Resort is set to re-open tomorrow, the first of July with guests being treated with discounted prices of up to 50 percent for bookings in the months of July and August.
‘African Sun Hotels and Resorts will be reopening Troutbeck Resort from the 1st of July since the closure of all business operations earlier this year in March in accordance to the national lockdown following the global outbreak of the Covid 19 Pandemic,” the Group said in a statement.
The magnificent, Montclair Hotel and Casino in Juliasdale, Nyanga has also opened albeit observing health measures.
“After booking has been confirmed and paid for before arrival, the hotel shall email the check-in registration sheet to the guest for them to complete requisite details, sign, scan and email back to the hotel prior to arrival. This is meant to reduce contact frequency and touch points. When guests prefer to eat from the dining room, strict physical distancing shall be enforced. Hotel non-residents shall be served only take away with the dining room reserved for those staying in the hotel,” the hotel management said in a statement.
More commendable, has been the renovation work hospitality industry players in the province have undertaken in recent months which will improve quality of experience for visitors.
Whitehorse Inn, located in the Vumba crags also re-opened its recently renovated hotel.
African Sun Hotels and Resorts took this opportunity during lockdown to complete refurbishments at Troutbeck Resort and keep up with modern and international trends as well as the ever changing needs.
However, with the hospitality industry already tipped to sustain the slowest recovery from the covid-19 pandemic relative to other sectors, industry players face a daunting task to offset losses already incurred.
Analysts have welcomed the development as a relief to the Manicaland economy which mainly depend on tourism.
