THE Airports Company of Zimbabwe (ACZ) said this week an international leisure brand had expressed interest in constructing a hotel at Robert Gabriel Mugabe (RGM) International Airport, which is being transformed into a multifaceted aviation facility.
ACZ chief executive officer Tawanda Gusha said it was too early to disclose the investor’s identity.
But he noted that proposals had been lodged with the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (Zida), which was currently looking at the documentation.
Should authorities approve the deal, it will be the first such deal in Zimbabwe, where passengers have to travel to hotels far from airports for accommodation.
In neighbouring South Africa, major hotels are strategically located close to such airports at Oliver Tambo International Airport to improve travel convenience.
Gusha said ACZ was moving in the same direction, as it revamps the country’s airports to improve standards.
Last year, ACZ said it was scouting for investors with capacity to invest set up a hotel at RGM.
Gusha told businessdigest this week that the plan was to construct two hotels at Zimbabwe’s biggest airport.
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“At Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, we are working on one or two hotels,” Gusha noted. “We already have submissions made to the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency by potential investors, and we are waiting for a decision.
“We have identified a potential site for the hotel, working with an international brand, which is likely to come in. Of course, announcements will be made once approvals are done. We want to develop an airport city around the airport. We are tendering for the development of a masterplan for RGM, as well as Victoria Falls International Airport and Joshua Mqabuko International Airport in Bulawayo. We want to start with those three. Their masterplans will inform the kind of investments that we will make at airports. But definitely, we have to develop complementary businesses around RGM and other two main airports.”
Authorities’ target has been to build a five-storey, 150-room hotel at RGM, complete with a golf course, an aquarium and conferencing facilities.
Apart from this, there are also plans to construct a three-story, 50-room hotel for about US$8 million at Victoria Falls International Airport, which was expanded at a cost of US$150 million in 2016.
Authorities have been exploring the build operate and transfer model for both programmes. The ACZ boss believes through the public-private partnership (PPP) route various projects will be completed without challenges.
“The drive is to go through the public-private partnership (PPP) route,” Gusha told businessdigest.
Last year, Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe director-general, Elisha Chingosho told our sister publication the Standard that passenger numbers into Zimbabwe’s airports would rise above pre-pandemic levels in 2023, as traffic improves in the aftermath of hard lockdowns globally, opening opportunities for investments into a range of services that support airlines.
He said passenger numbers from 17 international and local airlines servicing Zimbabwean destinations will rise by 80% compared to 2019 when the carriers moved 1,5 million people.
This represents growth to almost three million passengers this year, a positive trajectory for an industry that was battered by pandemic curbs at the height of the Covid-19 scourge between 2020 and 2021.
According to the International Air Transport Association, African passenger numbers are expected to recover more gradually than in other regions, reaching 76% of 2019 levels and surpassing pre-crisis levels only in 2025.
