‘THE RESIDENCE ZANZIBAR’ GIVES CREDIT FOR VISA CHARGES TO ATTRACT MORE GUESTS
(Posted 08th April 2015)
Sitting on some 32 hectares of island wilderness with only 66 villas does ‘The Residence Zanzibar’, a truly five star property, capture the imagination of visitors like few others. Snow white beaches await visitors and the sand feels like powder between the toes when guests wander down to the Indian Ocean shore and go for a stroll.
While tourism business for Zanzibar, compared to the Kenyan coast, is doing very much better have various factors impacted on the tourism industry in Tanzania too, unjustified Ebola fears – some say it was a smear campaign aimed against the whole of Africa – as has the recent drop in value of the Euro, the currency used in the main producer markets for visitors coming to Zanzibar where tariffs however are normally expressed in US Dollars.
‘The Residence Zanzibar’ had already put into place a 20 percent rebate for advance bookings to attract more business but has now gone a step further with a novel concept.
The Northern Corridor Integration Project countries of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda recently launched Visa free travel for their expatriate communities which is thought to have boosted demand in particular for mini vacations at the Kenya coast. ‘The Residence Zanzibar’ has, probably in response to this development, launched a payback scheme where expatriates from the East African community, who still have to pay a 50 US Dollar Visa fee when entering Tanzania – the country has refused to become part of this scheme as well as of the common tourist Visa now in place for the three other countries – get equivalent credit on consumption of food and drinks.
For a family of four this translates to 200 US Dollars in savings and for a couple still amounts to 100 US Dollars which can be used towards a special meal or a special bottle of wine or champagne on a special occasion.
Novel ways to add value for clients no doubt and it goes to show that the battle is truly on now across Eastern Africa to put heads into beds in beach resorts, safari lodges and hotels. Watch this space.
