"It might not be the best time to see the Falls, but it is the best time to be blessed by them."
That's what the owner of Kasambabezi Lodge, a local woman who spent 10 years saving up before she could open her own lodge, laughingly told me when I said I wanted to go for a quick spin around Victoria Falls before attending the Africa's Eden Travel Show this month.
I thought she was just being poetic, but it turns out she meant that the Zambezi River was running at more than double the rate of flow recorded this time last year. Inside the national park, the first eight viewpoints are genuinely spectacular: the gorge, the curtain of water, the rainbows forming and dissolving in the mist. In drier months, you can take in the views all the way down the path. But right now, with the water this exceptionally high, after stop eight you can't see much at all. What you can do is stand in what feels like a tropical downpour, completely at the mercy of the falls.
I would argue it is the better experience.
The raincoats they sell at the entrance are offered with good intentions. They are, however, entirely useless. You will get drenched regardless. Clients should be warned to waterproof their phones before they go in but to go anyway. There's something about being that thoroughly overwhelmed by nature that no photograph captures.
Victoria Falls has always sold itself on adrenaline. The Flight of Angels helicopter over the gorge is still one of the most incredible experiences in African travel. At peak flow, you're flying through mist with a rainbow forming below you. Add the bridge bungee jump, white-water rafting on the Zambezi and the Batoka Gorge canopy tour, and the adventure menu caters to almost every kind of traveler.
For clients wanting wildlife, a full-day safari into Botswana's Chobe National Park is an easy upsell: two countries, one afternoon, elephants in the river. And it's more accessible than ever, with the Zimbabwe-Zambia border crossing now open around the clock, making cross-border routing significantly smoother for late-arriving flights and multi-destination itineraries.
For clients looking to go deeper, Hwange National Park is the natural extension. For agents selling to purpose-driven luxury travelers, it's also where some of the most meaningful industry shifts are happening. Just this month, luxury operator Jacada Travel launched its new Impact Fund. Partnering with the Wilderness Trust, their inaugural initiative tackles the massive gender gap in guiding by funding professional training and building safe housing for female trainees at Linkwasha in Hwange.
The destination is also diversifying well beyond adrenaline. Stimela Trackside Dining serves a three-course dinner aboard a restored heritage train in the center of town. Come October, the Victoria Falls Food & Wine Festival (Oct. 8 to 11) makes its debut: four days of African gastronomy, chef master classes and wine tastings against the backdrop of the falls.
Deluxe digs
On the hotel front, the Victoria Falls Hotel, built in 1904, remains a must for the premium market. Walk through those doors and something shifts. Wide verandas, unhurried service, the kind of atmosphere that makes you feel like you've wandered into the book and film "Out of Africa."
But what's happening alongside it is just as interesting. Kasambabezi Lodge is exactly what community-owned tourism looks like when it's done with genuine care: spacious rooms, beautiful gardens with local artwork and hospitality that comes from pride of ownership rather than a brand manual. It matters that these businesses exist, and it makes a difference when advisors send clients to such places.
International investment is also keeping pace. Dubai-based ASB Hospitality acquired the shuttered Kingdom Hotel for $30 million, with a luxury rebrand planned. Bupenyu Lodge by Newmark Hotels opened in March and offers a spectacular take on luxury with 11 cliffside suites perched above the Batoka Gorge, less than 20 miles from the falls. The Lux Collective's LUX Xinii Victoria Falls follows in 2028, a Park Inn by Radisson in 2029. The pipeline is substantial.
Looking ahead, Zimbabwe is co-hosting the 2027 Cricket World Cup alongside South Africa and Namibia, and a new stadium is under construction in Victoria Falls to host matches. Victoria Falls has always been easy to sell. Right now, with the river at record levels, new properties opening across every price point, and a major global event on the horizon, it has genuine momentum.