Harare's country-style lodges have become a hit with tourists and holidaymakers seeking to escape from the high costs of city hotels and enjoy tranquillity of the capital city's northern suburb.

The northward trek in Harare, which has resulted in massive investments in residential properties in Borrowdale, Charlotte Brookes and Helensvale, has seen the establishment of world-class shopping malls, American-style mansions and upmarket cluster homes.

This has ushered in a new trend of country-style lodges, which are attracting significant numbers of tourists from the traditional city hotels and lodges.

Country lodges in Borrowdale are charging between 700 U.S. dollars and 1,000 dollars a month for accommodation and full catering facilities, compared to the daily rates of 100 to 400 dollars charged by city hotels and 50 to 200 dollars charged by city lodges.

The trendy "home away from home" country lodges are common in South Africa, where operators buy residential properties in affluent suburbs in cities and country houses in the countryside and convert them to lodges with catering provided by well-trained chefs and maids residing at the premises.

Many tourists prefer these high quality and low cost lodges, especially in South Africa, because they are located in quiet suburbs that are considered to be safer than city hotels.

The trend seems to have caught on in Harare and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second biggest city, with a sudden emergence of these lodges, and some people are even converting their own homes to lodges and providing more detailed and personalized hospitality.

"Many tourists from developed countries tend to prefer more relaxed and open accommodation facilities, different from the usual high-grade hotels common in their countries," Joyce Musariri, a travel and tourism consultant, said on Friday.

She said the shift from metropolitan hotels to the country lodges was also influenced by economic factors because the relatively lower rates would allow tourists to engage in more activities and visit more places during their stay in the country.

These initiatives by tour operators to provide personalized hospitality are believed to have contributed significantly to the development of a comprehensive tourism product, as they help in building more personal relationships with tourism markets.

Operators running tailor-made country lodges source their own markets and do their marketing in countries where they have established contacts, resulting in a gradual increase in the numbers of visitors coming into the country, and the benefits are spread across the industry.

Source: Xinhua