Tourism Council welcomes full capacity at hotels, lodges

The department of Cooperative Governance published amendments to the gazetted regulations on Thursday night.  

Previously hotels, lodges, bed and breakfasts, timeshare facilities, resorts and guest houses will only able to operate at 50% of capacity.

Tourism Council CEO Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa says the revised regulations were published following objections by the industry.

“The previous regulations, it was an anomaly, a drafting mistake because it was never in any older regulations that came out of from level 3 when we opened the industry. 

“So, what has happened is that it was a drafting mistake which I raised through the Nedlac process with the meeting we had yesterday morning and it was rectified.”

Loud music, whether live or otherwise, will not be allowed at any of the establishments, including conferencing, dining, entertainment and bar facilities. 

“We do understand the reasoning behind the regulation changes and the new times that have been put out in terms of indoor consumption of alcohol or the opening times of restaurant. We get that and we packaged those decision making,” Tshivhengwa says. 

“We think that if we do that for a short period of time to prevent the spike it is fine, but not ideal for the profitability of restaurants and many other events or venues. It is a short-term measure that is aimed for the next two weeks or so to deal with the situation.

“We need to make sure that these are not permanent measures or long-term measures and we do believe they are not going to be long term measures.”

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