IT'S not just tour operators in Zimbabwe that have taken a dive during the country's run-up to last weekend's elections, but the pinch is also being felt by certain operations in Zambia, too.
So reports Zambian-based Jet Extreme Adventures' managing director, Tony Pilcher, who says that since launching his business - a high-speed jetboat trend which originated in New Zealand - in April this year, his business has "been going well", but not as well as expected, mainly due to the uncertainty in Zimbabwe.
He told Travel Now that while he still had support from United Kingdom and Australian visitors, the main thrust of his business is focused on South Africa (40 to 60%) but, thus far, he has only had 10% support from SA.
"We plan to re-launch our business next month once the Zimbabwe elections are over, since our first launch basically coincided with the unrest in Zimbabwe."
The second launch will be attended by the Zambian Minister of Tourism.
Pilcher says the operators on the Zambezi River have been very supportive of each other and Jet Extreme has begun to offer combination packages in conjunction with river rafting operations.
"The tourists will, for example, spend the day river rafting and when they return, are taken on a high-speed jetboat which allows them to explore the previously unreachable wilderness areas of the Zambezi."
Following the completion of Sun International's hotel in Livingstone, Jet Extreme plans to build a helicopter pad on the gorge so that visitors at the hotel can be flown in for a jetboat adventure on the Zambezi.
(Adéle Mackenzie)
