The COVID-19 Pandemic and Tourism in Kariba Town

The COVID-19 pandemic undeniably impacted tourism across the globe but not in a monolithic and undifferentiated way. In examining pandemic-related shutdowns, curfews and other lockdown measures, this chapter demonstrates the specificities of tourism-impacts with reference to the border town of Kariba. It does so by delving into the problematic image of Kariba as a tourist destination, the downsized operations of tourism businesses such as hotels and lodges, and the troubled lives of curio vendors and tourism employees. The tourism crisis arising from the pandemic became embedded in the long-standing crises characterising the political economy of Zimbabwe, serving to deepen the precarity of a diverse range of tourism stakeholders in Kariba. Considering the pervasive and systemic character of the socio-economic and political crises in Zimbabwe, the chapter shows that it will prove difficult for the tourism stakeholders in Kariba to recuperate from the negative effects of the pandemic. This is especially the case given that the Zimbabwean government has not engaged in any serious project to revive Kariba as a premier tourist destination, concentrating rather on Victoria Falls.