In a round made by the reporting team of the Kianda’s mail to the main hotels in the province of Benguela, this Thursday, the 29th, the hotel managers of the province, when asked regarding the availability of rooms for those who still want to spend New Year’s Eve in the “Land of Acácias Rubras”, were unanimous in stating: “We no longer have rooms available since November”.
We set out on the road at 7 am. Our initial destination was the Mil Cidades hotel, one of the most frequented by tourists passing through the “Lands of Ombaka”. We were welcomed by Dona Maria, acting manager. The amount of guests that came in called our attention. Every 15 minutes people arrived. That’s how we questioned: has it been like this all the end of years? With a laugh, the manager replied “yes”!
“Our hotel is one of the most frequented in the province. Here we receive people from different parts of Angola and the world. This flow of tourists has already booked since November and we have full rooms, thank God”, he stressed.
We left Mil Cidades, it was 7:43 am. Just 10 meters away was the Luxury Hotel. We walked for approximately 4 minutes and arrived at the reception, we identified ourselves and were promptly received. The word was the same: “we no longer have rooms available for this end of year”, said the hotel manager.
“Since November, people from Luanda, Huambo, Huíla and foreigners have already booked rooms. We are happy. The pandemic hit us, now we can smile and I can even say that the hotel sector in the province already breathes good air ”, he pointed out.
We walked forward, our watch said 8:22 am, we entered the grand Hotel Ombaka. We were promptly assisted by the Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Stela de Andrade. With a smile on his lips, he demonstrated the good air that the hotel world in the province is experiencing, at the end of the year, in the lands that curiously have the same name as the hotel in reference.
Stela told us that for that year, the largest bookings were made by foreigners and that there are no rooms available for that weekend either.
“We are bursting at the seams (laughs). There are no rooms available. Tourists have already booked long before December and, at this time, as you can see, we are only welcoming them. We managed to smile and hope that next year we will have the same dynamic. Benguela is attractive and we have beautiful places, tasty food and kind people. Come on. We are open to receive anyone who wants to visit our land”, she said.
In other hotels in the province where we passed, without listening and recording interviews, the scenario was the same. The arrival of tourists accounted for countless citizens who chose to spend the end of the year in the lands of the beautiful beaches Morena, Baía Azul, Restinga, Caotinha, Sombreiro, Rio Catumbela, the beautiful lodges, the warm waters of Balombo or even the orchards along the Cavaco river.
