Victoria Falls, in Zimbabwe, will soon boast a new luxury boutique hotel catering for a variety of guests to the region’s famous world heritage site.

From early 2019, the new 199 all-suite Mbano Manor Hotel will offer a unique and nature-based travel experience for the global, high-end tourist, who seeks world-class hospitality, comfort and privacy to commune with nature.

The driving force behind the Mbano Manor Hotel, global tourism businessperson Mati Nyazema, explains that the hotel’s vision is to cater for the top-end of the international market with an upmarket and deluxe offering in Victoria Falls, in a forest setting, only 4 km away from the world-famous landmark.

“The high-end clients visiting Southern and East Africa are currently staying in suites at top hotels and exclusive game lodges in South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Mozambique and Tanzania. However, there is limited bespoke, quality products to complement their stay when visiting Victoria Falls,” she added.

The aim is to cultivate and safeguard the unique, exclusive and bespoke Mbano Manor Hotel, in order to become the luxury Victoria Falls destination of choice, she highlighted.

“We see great opportunity to leverage the new-found optimism enjoyed by Zimbabwe following recent positive political and economic developments. Mbano Manor Hotel is ready to unleash the abundant luxury tourism opportunities on offer in the Victoria Falls and greater Zimbabwe region,” said Nyazema.

She further noted that recent reports indicate that the global luxury hotels market continues to expand, characterised by high-end experiences.

Owing to this, she explained that Mbano has designed its product and guest experiences to embrace the latest trends, such as responsible tourism, perceptive dining, as well as a simple focus on rest and a pronounced sleep experience.

While nature took precedence in the hotel’s design, buildings were carefully positioned to ensure minimal disruption of the original forest, which is dominated by large, ancient teak trees.

The hotel boasts 18 luxurious standard suites, as well as one presidential villa nestled within the natural beauty of the surrounding teak forest.

Zimbabwean Tourism Authority COO Givemore Chidzidzi welcomed the Mbano Manor Hotel addition to the Victoria Falls offering.

“The new boutique hotel is situated adjacent to Zambezi National Park, at the edge of Victoria Falls village and, therefore, offers the best of nature and luxury comfort in one setting. From the majestic Victoria Falls, to superb safari offerings in Hwange, Mana Pools, the Eastern Highlands, as well as the Great Zimbabwe National Monument, Zimbabwe has so much on offer for the global traveller,” Chidzidzi explained.

In addition, guests will be able to enjoy several activities including sightseeing, river safaris, helicopter safaris, river rafting and a plethora of adventure activity.

“Tourism plays a critical role in the development of our economy by luring foreign direct investment and much-needed foreign currency which results in job creation and improvement of our social and economic life. We look forward to welcoming Mbano Manor Hotel’s guests and making their visit to our beautiful country, unforgettable.”

Chidzidzi added that the Zimbabwean government has embarked on the development of a national tourism sector strategy to inform, harness and champion the development and strategic growth of the sector.

The new tourism strategy seeks to increase tourist arrivals to seven-million from the current 2.4-million and grow tourism export earnings to $7-billion from $1-billion.

“The objectives of the National Tourism Sector Strategy are to ensure Zimbabwe increases its share of global tourism and convert it into tangible benefits for the economy. It is encouraging to see private initiative harnessing the opportunity and supporting our national tourism initiatives by development of new quality products such as Mbano Manor Hotel,” Chidzidzi highlighted.