300 companies to exhibit at the Sanganai/Hlanganani expo

Business Reporter
MORE than 300 companies have been booked to exhibit at the 11th edition of the Sanganai/Hlanganani World tourism expo, which will be held in Bulawayo next week.

This year’s tourism expo will be held from 5 – 8 September at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) Exhibition Centre.

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) chief executive officer, Mr Karikoga Kaseke, said 21 countries drawn from Africa, Europe and Asia will participate at this year’s expo. These include South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia, Lesotho, Mauritius, Tanzania, Ghana, Egypt, Uganda, Nigeria, Rwanda, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Indonesia, China and the United Kingdom (UK).

Mr Kaseke highlighted that the 11th edition of the Fair has attracted interest especially from South Africa, whose stand will house over 25 tour operators who are keen on packaging Zimbabwe.

“We continue to receive one of the highest tourist arrivals from South Africa and the growing interest is positively received at our travel expo. Italy will also bring 20 operators. We are expecting to host more than 240 international buyers and over 15 international media from our various source markets,” he said.

“To date, Africa and the Middle East have confirmed the highest number of buyers at a record 115. Over 65 buyers from the Europe and Americas’ market will attend the Fair with the highest number from the UK, Spain and Portugal.”

Mr Kaseke noted that the China, Asia and Pacific market has also recorded over 60 international buyers, with China recording the bulk of the buyers from that market.

This year’s tourism expo will provide narratives that will be used to develop and promote the late Father Zimbabwe, Dr Joshua Nkomo’s Tourism Heritage Trails.

Tourism Heritage Trails entail the crafting of routes that tourists can undertake if they want to understand the history behind an iconic figure or any heritage.

“We are certain that this product will be a success and will not only profile the region where the late Vice President hailed from but will take tourists across our great nation,” said Mr Kaseke.
Apart from Dr Nkomo’s Heritage Trails that will be held on September 5 at the Bulawayo City Hall, other main events include the awards ceremony, African tourism ministers’ round table, chef’s cookout and women in tourism conference.