Zim GBC News | Health and Environment
VICTORIA FALLS – A major development boom in Zimbabwe’s premier resort town of Victoria Falls is pitting environmental activists against investors and the local municipality, with campaigners now threatening to call for an international tourism boycott.
The conflict centres on whether the town is sacrificing its pristine natural environment, a key reason for its UNESCO World Heritage status, for economic growth. The “Keep Vic Falls Wild” campaign, a coalition of local environmentalists and tour operators, argues that a wave of new hotel and lodge construction is breaking the promise to keep the site “intact for future generations.”
“Perhaps it’s time we called for an international boycott… of all tourism to the Zimbabwean side of the Falls, where a wave of tourism development proposals threatens conservation areas,” the group stated, voicing its frustration.
The campaigners point to several high-profile projects they believe violate protected zones. These include the Baines Restaurant, accused of being built in a ‘Highly Ecologically Sensitive Zone’—a claim the owners deny, and for which they are suing a campaigner for US$2 million. Plans for a Six Senses hotel by the InterContinental Hotel Group and a potential 120-room Hilton property are also contested, with activists claiming they fall within ‘no new development’ or sensitive buffer zones.
On the other side of the debate, the City of Victoria Falls and investors insist the development is not only legal but essential. Officials state the town is currently facing a shortage of 2,200 hotel beds and requires more conference facilities to capitalize on growing tourist arrivals.
“None of these projects is illegal or within restricted areas,” a representative for the investors argued.
Tensions have been further inflamed by the council’s draft plan, which proposes expanding the city’s boundaries from 22 square kilometres to over 244 square kilometres. Activists warn this would “swallow up” parts of the Victoria Falls National Park and nearby forest reserves, land previously protected for conservation.
The development pipeline continues to grow, signalling no slowdown. Recent projects include a Novotel by French group Accor, a new hotel behind the historic Victoria Falls Hotel, and luxury lodges from operators like Minor Hotels and Newmark Hotels & Reserves.
As the debate intensifies, the future of one of Africa’s most iconic destinations hangs in the balance, caught between the imperatives of conservation and economic development.
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