Online Reporter
Last week, the Eastern Highlands played host to the 2025 Sanganai/Hlanganganani/Kumbanayi World Tourism Expo and this is the first time in 18 years that the expo has been held outside Bulawayo. The set up in the Eastern
Highlands was completely different from Bulawayo and according to tourism players in Manicaland, the decision to move the expo to the province has helped market its tourism potential.
It is our hope that Government will continue to rotate the hosting of the expo so that all provinces are exposed to international tourists as what happened to Manicaland.
According to tourism buyers that attended the country’s premier tourism showcase, the exposure to the Eastern Highlands’s tourism potential had changed their perception of Zimbabwe.
The challenge to tourism operators in Manicaland is to ensure they are not found wanting when increased numbers of tourists visit them in the next few months. High profile figures have already visited Zimbabwe’s tourism capital, Victoria Falls and these include former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who visited the resort city in March this year.
The 83-year old football icon joined a long list of international celebrities that have visited Zimbabwe’s tourism capital.
The other high profile figures that have visited Victoria Falls and other tourist destinations across the country include Hollywood stars and couple Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Uefa president who is also Fifa vice president Aleksander Ceferin and his wife Barbara and Honorary Commander of the British Navy, Mrs Durdana Ansari.
The other celebrities that visited the country include South African television presenter and socialite Maps Mamponyane, Springboks captain Siya Kolisi and Barcelona’s Rayco Garcia. Mamponyane who spent a day in Victoria Falls, spoke glowingly about the falls.
Renowned American comedian and television host Steve Harvey and his wife Marjorie also visited Victoria Falls.
Now that the Eastern Highlands’ tourist destinations have been exposed to international tourists after this year’s World Tourism Expo, some of these celebrities might visit Manicaland to sample its tourism products.
There is therefore a need for the sector to brace for an influx of tourists in the next few months.
We have said it before that Zimbabwe’s tourism sector should ensure that the tourists that visit the country come back and this is only possible if they enjoy our services and hospitality.
Repeat visits are crucial for the growth of our tourism industry and it is therefore incumbent upon each and every tourism operator to strive to give their best when afforded an opportunity to host tourists.
The country can only derive maximum benefits from its world class tourist attractions such as the Eastern Highlands and Victoria Falls if it continues to attract large numbers of tourists from big markets such as America and China.
What is comforting is that we had delegates from these big markets at this year’s Sanganai/Hlanganani/Kumbanayi World Tourism Expo.
