Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe (TBCZ) president Tich Hwingwiri has refuted overpricing allegations against tourism operators calling the accusations during a media briefing in Harare today.
The tourism council president was briefing the media as Zimbabwe heads for a festive holiday.
“There have been unfair accusations that Zimbabwean operators have priced their services, facilities, and amenities uncompetitively, and I need to refute these allegations now,” Hwingwiri said.
“If anyone overprices his or her business, he or she will go out of business very quickly. That is as true in Zimbabwe as anywhere else and is as true today as it has ever been.”
The council also said that the market is and must remain the determining force behind pricing strategies of all and any travel and tourism operators.
“What is needed is not controls or criticism but a means by which all operators can run their businesses with affordable inputs and easy access to these inputs,” Hwingwiri said.
“As has been said before in other situations: give us the tools and we shall do the job.”
“The steady growth in tourist arrivals over the past 18 months is testimony to pour belief that our product is not overpriced; this growth would not be happening, nor would the outlook be as good as it is,” Hwingwiri went on.
Although the tourism council refutes, Director in the Ministry of Tourism, Douglas Runyowa is on the record stating that the studies in Victoria Falls show that Zimbabwe’s tourism is affected by the over-pricing of services.
Runyowa said the over-pricing issue was a result of Zimbabwe using the US Dollar.
