On a recent visit to Victoria Falls, Tessa Buhrmann had the opportunity to chat to Anald Musonza, Head of Sales and Marketing, Africa Albida Tourism (AAT).

Tell me about your life…

Anald Musonza is a Zimbabwean born and bred hospitality and tourism professional who is very passionate about this service industry. He is a family man born over half a century ago.

Where did your tourism and hospitality journey begin?

My journey in this service industry started off by accident in 1995 when I joined the School of Hospitality and Tourism Studies in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

I am sure you have had untold opportunities to work internationally…why Zimbabwe and more specifically, Victoria Falls?

My heart is in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. I had several opportunities, some that I took, and I worked in the region for over 8 years, BUT Victoria Falls kept beckoning me back with its magical allure as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. I feel strongly that if not me, who else can best represent our beautiful destination to the world? I feel duty bound to contribute to the sustainable tourism growth in Victoria Falls as well as in Zimbabwe in general.

Who was your mentor in the early days of your tourism journey? And what key piece of advice did you receive?

Andy Conn, our current Group Operations Manager was a dear mentor to me in a year’s mentorship programme. I learnt a lot about attention to detail as a prerequisite for a service professional. Ross Kennedy (founder and director) was like a father to me, and by observing how his unique hotelier skills are ever on show, I learnt a lot that I used on my career growth plan.

What is your current role in mentoring young people in the industry?

I have taken mentorship as a lifelong career. I am strong believer in people upskilling themselves. I have seen a lot of young people come through the organisations I have worked for and become senior executives, some starting off as gardeners to becoming professional guides and others top international hoteliers. This skills transfer gives me satisfaction that our beautiful profession will continue to flourish. I will one day retire and set up a Tourism and Hospitality Mentorship Academy as I feel this is the best way to share skills and guide others to see their potential and unleash it for the greater good.

Where does responsible tourism – conservation, community, and the environment, fit into the ethos of AAT?

As AAT, we feel blessed to be the custodians of such sensitive ecosystems that we have around us. Our whole business model hinges on how best we can look after our environment to keep it pristine with the wildlife and flora flourishing.

Given that our tourism in Victoria Falls is both heritage and nature based, there is even greater need for sustainability. We employ locals and empower them through skills development. This helps our staff become agents of looking after our environment, and this translates to more tourists visiting us and more jobs being created now and into the future.

As AAT we cannot be in existence outside a sustainable environment, hence it’s a no brainer for us to operate sustainably as it’s how it should be for us and all businesses in our destination.

What are some of the conservation initiatives that AAT have initiated within the Vic Falls region?

The biggest initiative we started, together with conservationist Charles Brightman, is the Victoria Falls Anti-Poaching Unit (VFAPU) in 1999. This team of 15 scouts helps protect the fauna and flora in the Victoria Falls environs and educates the community and schools about conserving our wildlife and environment.

We have also been instrumental in establishing the Vic Falls Recycling project that recycles and upcycles waste like glass into ornaments that can be sold, thus creating jobs for the local women and young people.

In December 2019, we made a decision to rid our hotels of single-use plastic by introducing the environmentally friendly Natura Water System, and this has had a huge impact on the amount of plastic waste that ends up in our environment.  Water is purified onsite using a three-stage filtration system which removes any impurities to produce top quality, great tasting still or sparkling water, provided to guests in recyclable glass bottles.

We also support local communities and schools in various ways. One of the skills development programs we have has helped several local school leavers find careers in the hospitality and tourism industry through the training we do.

What impact does poaching have on the region? And how does AAT help to deal with this? What are some of the success stories?

Poaching is a crime against the environment as its effects are devastating for generations to come. To even imagine that I have lived all my life seeing rhinos, pangolin, lions and so on, and then to start imagining that soon some of these species may be gone makes me very sad. We have taken it upon ourselves as AAT to be responsible change makers and encourage others to respect and care for our fragile environment.

Our Victoria Falls Safari Lodge estate is an oasis of nature with only indigenous trees planted across it. 

Our biggest success is VFAPU as well as the Vulture Culture Experience where we teach our guests, staff and all who visit our estate about the importance of these birds to our environment. Thanks to social media, this educational conservation program has been shared across the world as guests post their videos and photos of the activity, hence spreading the conservation message.

Where does Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fit into the ethos of AAT? And what are some of the initiatives?

CSR is in the DNA of AAT. Besides the above-mentioned initiatives, we also work closely with our guests through the Pack for a Purpose program. This allows our guests to bring items that can be used by local communities or schools like stationery, clothing or medical supplies, and sometimes our guests actually visit these communities to hand over the supplies. This helps bring tourism benefits directly to the communities, hence emphasising to the local communities why they should be active in conserving the environment as this helps their livelihoods.

What positive impact have these initiatives had on local communities?

Enormous cultural exchange opportunities and education on the importance of the coexistence between humanity and nature. Most of our communities fully understand their roles as custodians of our environment as they see the benefits they derive from it.

In your opinion, how important is it to involve local communities in tourism related decisions that affect their lives?

Local communities are the true owners of these spaces we operate as businesses. They are key stakeholders in how their local resources are exploited and utilised for their mutual benefit. This is not only right, but it shows that as AAT and other tourism players, we respect our culture and ensure that we work together with local communities in bringing beneficial development that will be embraced by the local communities.

Approximately what percentage of employment does tourism provide in the Vic Falls region? And AAT specifically?

AAT is like a university of life. Most of the staff have been with the company for decades and have grown through the different levels. A case in point is our current General Manager, Victor Saurombe who started his journey with the group as a reservationist, then joined the Management Development Program (MDP), became the Boma Manager, then the F&B Manager before leaving the company to go and grow as Deputy GM at Meikles Hotel (now Hyatt Regency Hotel) for 5 years. He is now back as our General Manager.

In another unique case that speaks to who we are as AAT, we have a former gardener called Cossam Ncube who is now a Leaner Guide and doing the guided tour of the Falls for our guests. Our current Boma Manager, Gerald Kapesa started as a kitchen porter, went to Hotel School to train as a chef, became an international travelling chef and returned to become The Boma Manager. These stories are too many to mention at AAT. In my own story, I started as The Boma Manager and 20 years down the line I am now the Head of Sales and Marketing. This is what AAT does, and it does it well.

What environmental initiatives have you/AAT been instrumental in initiating? Some examples and detail please…

The Vulture Culture Experience sits at the apex of some of our initiatives as it has global reach in educating people on the need to value every creature in our ecosystem as it plays a huge role. The Clean Up Campaigns and adopting a portion of the city that we clean regularly has also helped to keep Victoria Falls a clean city.

Any other success stories you would like to share?

Our story cannot be told without the founders, Dave Glynn and Ross Kennedy who are both conservations and entrepreneurial masters. We continue to evolve as a business BUT the conservation ethos remains central to all that we do, thanks to the values the founders have instilled across the AAT family. The water bottling project has helped reduce the use of single-use water plastic bottles. We also have a huge nursery of indigenous plants and grasses that we plant across our estate. This plays a key role in our efforts to keep our estate very natural without foreign trees or plants.

www.victoria-falls-safari-lodge.com