Chronicle Editor
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
THE curtain rolled down on the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo on a high note yesterday concluding a successful fully-packed three-day programme that saw various investments being unlocked while synergies were created in the tourism sector.
The Expo which was held at the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre in Bulawayo between Thursday and yesterday ended with an awards ceremony that saw the South African stand scooping the overall best exhibitor award with Air Zimbabwe being the first runner-up.
The tourism jamboree attracted more than 378 exhibitors surpassing the 270 exhibitors that attended last year.
The premier fair was the second in-person meeting after the relaxation of measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 10 Government Ministers and deputy ministers graced the expo led by the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Barbara Rwodzi.
South Africa Tourism also scooped the best international stand while Air Zimbabwe scooped the best airline stand. Bulawayo Metropolitan Province scooped the best provincial stand. In an interview, South African Tourism Regional General Manager — Africa Ms Evelyn Mahlaba said they were excited having exhibited at the expo saying it was motivated by the fact that Zimbabwe commands a greater chunk of tourist arrivals in the region.
“We are more excited as South Africa because on Friday we won an award for the best international stand and the best overall stand for the exhibition. I think for us as South African tourism, the award is just a cherry on the cake. The main objective for us is to exhibit what we offer. We have with us airlines, hotels, two provinces that include Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The expo gave all these players an opportunity to engage with travel traders from Zimbabwe and the rest of the continent and international buyers which are here,” said Ms Mahlaba.
She said one thing that they realised was that everything was expensive, so they came up with a stand which was sustainable in terms of budget.
“For us to come out strong here it is because Zimbabwe’s tourist arrivals are key to South Africa. It has the highest arrivals for South Africa in the continent. The continent contributes about 74 percent of South African arrivals and Zimbabwe contributes 22 percent of that figure. We also saw the need as Africans to showcase ourselves to our fellow Africans,” said Ms Mahlaba.
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority corporate affairs manager Mr Godfrey Koti expressed gratitude towards the people of Bulawayo who supported the expo, saying it was bigger and better compared to last year in terms of exhibitors.
“We would really want to thank the people of Bulawayo for supporting us during this expo. We had 100 international buyers who came to meet with exhibitors who were exhibiting in this expo. We had more than 378 exhibitors and I can say it was an expo which was very successful. This is because people met and shared business ideas, something which we believe will improve our brand as they will go out there and market our destination and increase the number of people coming into the country as well as generate foreign currency,” said Mr Koti.
Yesterday the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority hosted a career guidance forum which attracted students from various tertiary institutions. — nyeve14
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