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Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
LOW off-take marred yesterday’s incentive travel workshop which was a major highlight of the A’sambeni Africa Tourism Fair that runs concurrently with the on-going Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF).The event had to be cancelled — forcing the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) expert, American Joost de Meyer, to resort to conducting one on one meetings with buyers.
About 20 buyers are participating in the tourism fair that is aimed at enhancing increased tourist arrivals and marketing the country’s tourism products.
ZITF Company board chairman Bekithemba Nkomo confirmed the cancellation of the event at a press briefing yesterday afternoon.
“Off-take was not high in the morning and we decided that Meyer would do one on one meetings with exhibitors. It seems businesses that are here are benefiting from these one on one meetings. Market feedback received so far is that exhibitors are happy with the high calibre of invited buyers and are confident of future business opportunities arising from these meetings.”
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) spokesperson Sugar Chagonda would not comment on the cancellation of the event and only said:
“It’s due to some challenges”.
Some exhibitors were of the opinion that the event could have been overshadowed by the Harare International Festival of the Arts (Hifa) and the extra-ordinary Sadc heads of states summit.
Both events are being held in the capital today.
However, in separate interviews, some exhibitors in the sector drawn from Poland, South Africa and the United States expressed satisfaction with the start of the trade showcase.
An official at the Cresta Churchill Hotel stand, Tariro Mutonhori said the buyers had shown interest in coming to Zimbabwe and were happy to be at this year’s A’sambeni.
“From what we’ve gathered from the meetings we had with the buyers this morning, the buyers from Poland, the United States and South Africa are interested and we hope the enquiries that we’ve received as exhibitors will translate into business deals.
“As Cresta, today we had three buyers from Poland who’ve shown keen interest in our products,” she said.
An official from the African Sun group of hotels who requested anonymity for professional reasons applauded ZTA for inviting the Polish buyers to this year A’sambeni Tourism Fair.
“It’s a very positive development that ZTA has done in inviting buyers from Poland as that will go a long way in selling the tourism products in the country which range from conferencing facilities to resorts among others. However, today it’s the first day of the exhibition so it’s too early to talk much about the enquiries and deals but as exhibitors we’re happy that there has been a lot of interest from buyers from South Africa, Poland and the United States,” said the official.
Ganda Lodge manager Andrew Mukumbiri also commended efforts by ZTA in inviting buyers from Poland and the United States.
“We’ve met buyers from Poland and we’re hoping to make follow-ups on the leads that we’ve created so that as a safari operator we can do business with that part of the market,” he said.
Online Reporter