Online Reporter
Sifelani Tsiko
Fact Check Editor
THE ancient city of Masvingo which is buzzing with Zimbabwe’s flagship tourism showcase – the 19th Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo – was a key trading centre with a vast trade network that linked Great Zimbabwe with the Indian Ocean ports, eastern Africa, Arabia, India and Asia.
This massive multi – day celebration running from today to September 12 has transformed the ancient city of Masvingo which is home to the megalithic Great Zimbabwe Monument into the nation’s largest street party with an unmatched wave of music, colour and euphoria.
THE 19th edition of the Sanganai/Hlanganani/Dzimbahwe World Tourism Expo The expo, largely seeks to bring together local and international tourism operators, destination marketing organisations, hospitality players, airlines, investors, buyers and other stakeholders under one platform.
It has become one of the country’s biggest celebrations – a cultural phenomenon so electrifying, so multilayered and so deeply woven into the spirit of the Zimbabwean people that leaves visitors and locals alike changed, recharged and forever enchanted by the beauty and intensity of Zimbabwean tourism life.
The showpiece is a carnival and exhibition full of explosion of rhythm, colour, identity, history, joy, defiance, community and raw artistic talent, all coming together in what many describe as one of the greatest African gatherings in southern Africa.
To the uninitiated, this expo may appear to be all glitter and full of choreographed parades and street dance – but beneath the surface lies one of the richest cultural tapestries in the world linked to Great Zimbabwe – a National Monument and UNESCO World Heritage site best known as an architectural masterpiece and one of Africa’s most iconic sites.
Great Zimbabwe was a powerful trading city-state in southeast Africa that existed from approximately 1300 to 1525. It was located on the highland plateau that occupies much of the present-day country of Zimbabwe.
This national monument was built by the local Shona speaking people and the country derives its name from the Great Zimbabwe Monument. The Shona word Dzimbabwe means the house in stone.
The hosting of the Sanganai/Hlanganani/Dzimbahwe World Tourism Expo in Masvingo is quite befitting and celebrates the history of Masvingo as a great centre of tourism and trade from ancient times.
The city today, hosting this expo stands as a great symbol of the history of trade and tourism between people of Dzimbabwe and the outside world -whose people trekked to Great Zimbabwe in search of products and services.
Archaeological excavations at Great Zimbabwe have revealed glass beads and porcelain from China and Persia, and gold and Arab coins from Kilwa which testify to the extent of long-standing trade between Zimbabwe and the outer world.
It is important to note that relations between China and Zimbabwe, for example, did not start in the 1960s when China trained our freedom fighters. The relations stretch back to time immemorial – to between the 11th and 15th centuries, when Shona speaking people traded with the Chinese. Gold was probably the key factor that made Great Zimbabwe a much richer and more powerful state.
The world today should understand that objects found at the Great Zimbabwe Monument include many items of gold, beautifully decorated weapons, porcelain imported from China, and stone sculptures all show that Masvingo has been a hub for tourism and trade since ancient times.
The monument holds the most famous sculptures are column-like stone pillars topped with birds, known as Zimbabwe birds.
Trade and tourism was very much alive in Masvingo with the Chinese, Arabs, Portuguese, Persians, Swahili and other people from other parts of the world buying gold from Great Zimbabwe, as well as goods such as copper, ivory, and animal skins. In return, people of Great Zimbabwe received glass beads, cloth, porcelain, and other items.
The grand scale of the capital – Great Zimbabwe and its architecture made a powerful statement about the ruler and his state. It was so impressive that early European visitors to its stone monument were amazed.
And even up to now, Great Zimbabwe remains one of the greatest monuments of African civilization.
The National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ), under the Ministry of Home Affairs, is the entity directly responsible for the management of the property.
Great Zimbabwe is Zimbabwe’s second – biggest tourist attraction after Victoria Falls. It draws thousands of local and international visitors to explore its massive, mortarless dry-stone structures built between the 11th and 15th centuries. It’s a must visit monument and every tourist must place it on their bucket list of travel.
Masvingo city is rooted in indigenous traditions, African heritage and has a touch of foreign influences such as cultural effects brought by the Chinese and Portuguese, colonial posts and centuries of political transformation.
And there is no doubt that the 19th edition of the Sanganai/Hlanganani/Dzimbahwe World Tourism Expo underway in Masvingo takes visitors and locals alike on a deep journey into the world of ancient trade and tourism at Great Zimbabwe.
It captivates visitors who will learn Great Zimbabwe’s origins, its ancient tourism and trade activity, its spiritual, cultural power, its social meaning and its place as a living symbol of the Zimbabwean soul.
Whether your interest is trade or tourism now, one will definitely not miss the cultural, linguistic, historical and archaeological significance of the Great Zimbabwe Monument.
The energy inside the tourism showcase is indescribable and will certainly deepen Zimbabwe’s penetration of international tourism markets.
