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Tina Musonza-Herald Correspondent
The 100 buyers invited to the Sanganai/Hlanganani tourism expo were yesterday taken to major resorts in the eastern half of Zimbabwe by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), with Great Zimbabwe, Mt Nyangani Mountain, Nyanga National Park and other attractions showcased.
Speaking after the buyers arrived yesterday at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority Head Corporate Affairs Godfrey Koti said the arrival of buyers signalled the kick-start of the expo.
“For us, Sanganai/Hlanganani essentially kicks off on Sunday with the arrival of the first batch of international buyers into Destination Zimbabwe,” he said. “We are looking at 100 hosted buyers who are coming and various international media houses. There are 250 exhibitors in 20 countries.”
In an interview, ZTA Hospitality and Tourism Business Consultant Mrs Tsitsi Madzingo said the potential buyers will work out the packaging of the special zones spearheaded by her as their tour leader.
“During their tours they will be visiting different operators and destinations and they will conduct their meetings in the special zones they have selected to discuss further how they can collaborate in selling Zimbabwe,” she said.
She said some deals will be signed during the visits.
“Some will actually sign the deals as we visit for the site tours because they will be sleeping in the facilities they are interested in, where they will get to meet management,” said Mrs Madzingo.
“They will make packages for such facilities and sell them as holidays back in their countries.”
Germany and France tourist attraction centres buyers said tourism had strong links to economic growth for all countries, particularly those that were affected by Covid-19.
The collaborative tourism intensive measures to invest have shown a business relationship between developing countries joining hands for tourism development and economic growth
A Sanganani/Hlanganani buyer from Get Up Tourism company from Germany, Mr Rolf Merz, said there was need to resume collaborative tourism investments from all countries.
“It’s important to have the possibility to come here and meet hosts and service providers and speak to them as we travel through the country and see what actually is the quality of accommodation,” he said. “It improves my knowledge and it is much easier to sell the tourist products in Germany.”
Mr Merz said the initiative will create employment, bring money and score business goals for Zimbabwe.
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