African Sun has evolved from being just a Zimbabwe-based hospitality management company to a Pan-African company and is a significant player in the tourism and hospitality industry, with the Zimbabwe operations currently forming the largest business under African Sun. African Sun has interests in Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Ghana, however, its strategic marketing and sales initiatives are aimed to take advantage of both business and leisure travel within sub-Saharan Africa.
The Zimbabwe operations of 13 hotels and resorts, including three resort hotels in the town of Victoria Falls, namely Elephant Hills Resort, The Kingdom at Victoria Falls and jointly managed Victoria Falls Hotel. MICExchange spoke to Alana Chinhara, Group Sales and Marketing Manager of African Sun. “Victoria Falls is a premium destination in Southern Africa.” “.. [we] hosted the UN WTO in 2013, this brought Zimbabwe back onto the map and brought Victoria Falls right back where it needs to be.” Chinhara also noted the refurbishment of the Victoria Falls airport which will allow larger aircraft to land and offer access by both Emirates and Turkish Airways in the future.
The Elephant Hills Hotel is often thought of as a Victoria Falls icon. This grand hotel from a bygone era, maintains a reputation and offers many leisure and conference facilities and an 18 hole golf course which is frequented by an assorted of wildlife. The resort lies at the top of a hill outside of Victoria Falls affording many of the rooms sweeping views of the Zambezi River.
Separated by the magnificent Victoria falls, the towns of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and Livingstone in Zambia both offer visitors access to the falls. While many activities center around the falls, the destination offers both adventure seekers and sightseers plenty of opportunities for an African experience and adventure tourism.
Although the view and the waterfall is truly impressive, you simply cannot get a perspective on the full width of the falls from the Zambian side. If you are flying from South Africa to visit Victoria Falls and explore the region, an option is to arrive to Zimbabwe and leave from Zambia to get the most from the experience. Chinhara finished by saying, “Its an amazing destination and we need you to come and experience, enjoy and explore.”
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