. . . and how it all started nearly 30 years ago

fair in Zimbabwe called Manica Travel Expo, which was held annually every February.
The show was held to specifically promote travel in the region especially holidays to Mauritius, Mozambique and South Africa, advance domestic travel through Flame Lily holidays as well as educating the public about holiday opportunities in the country and the region.
In 1990, the organisers felt that the Manica Travel Expo had grown big and needed to be organised by the National Tourism Board – the then Zimbabwe Tourist Development Corporation (ZTDC).

The first ZTDC organised show was renamed Zimbabwe Travel Expo and was held at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC).
The exposition was broader in purpose and its main objectives were to uphold Zimbabwe as a preferred tourist destination, promote domestic tourism and educate the public about holiday opportunities in the country as well as providing a forum for the Zimbabwe tourism business community.

Nevertheless, 1996 saw the birth of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), which quickly transformed the Zimbabwe Travel Expo to the Zimbabwe International Travel Expo (ZITE).
The annual expo became an international travel fair incorporating exhibitors such as regional tourist boards, airlines, tour operators and international tourism players.
The show continued to run for nine years up to 2006, when a new vision for growth was espoused in line with new thinking, leading to the positioning of the travel expo as “Africa’s leading Tourism Showcase”.

The Zimbabwe International Travel Expo (ZITE) continued to grow in its present form until 2007 when exhibition space became inadequate to accommodate the growth.
The year 2007 witnessed 71 exhibitors being turned down due to space limitations and it became clear that a new venue was needed if the show was to grow in line with the espoused vision.

After a deep survey, the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre (ZIEC) – (ZITF) in Bulawayo presented itself as the only suitable venue to accommodate the growth of the Travel Expo.
Thus, eventually the ZTA and ZITF entered into a partnership to run the Tourism Trade Fair at the ZIEC in Bulawayo in 2008.

The combined experience and expertise of ZTA and ZITF as well as the excellent spacious venue will propel this tourism trade fair to the top of world tourism and travel fairs.