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Arnold Mutemi in Victoria Falls
SMALL-scale entrepreneurs exhibiting at the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) general assembly in Victoria Falls say they are set to make heavy losses after the anticipated brisk business from delegates failed to materialise.
By the second day of the general assembly which started on Saturday, most entrepreneurs said they had not made any sales as no single delegate had visited their exhibition tent on the Elephant Hills Hotel golf course.
The entrepreneurs blamed the tight programme which made it impossible for delegates to find free time to move around and shop.
Mr Pain Madanhi from Chitungwiza said he had invested more than $600 to secure wares for resale at the general assembly and was unlikely to recoup it.
“My expectations have not been met. I have been here for three days but I have not made a sale. Visitors are not coming here. I ordered stuff worth $600 and I was hoping to get $2 000, but so far I have nothing,” he said.
Mr David Mupatsi, who operates from the Large City Hall in Bulawayo, said he borrowed money to be able to come to display his wares, which included wooden curios, hoping to repay back the money from the sales.
“We were expecting to hit it big time during the UNWTO. But now I think it was better if I had remained in Bulawayo,” he said.
Other SMEs said they had not managed to recover the money they paid for the exhibition space and rentals for accommodation.
Another Bulawayo curio maker Mr Aaron Dube blamed the organisers for not giving time to delegates to shop around. He said if the delegates had visited their exhibition space, they would have made good business.
He also felt the site of the exhibition, at the back of the hotel, was hidden and some of the delegates might not even be aware of their existence.
“We have not seen the people. I can only say there is no business if we don’t see makiwa,” he said.
A crochet and batik maker from Mutare, Ms Mavis Manyangadze, said she had hoped to use the general assembly to establish export markets. She said she had been told that crotchet work was popular in Egypt.
“I thought I was going to have great business and brought many wares. I also wanted to establish contacts for exports. So far I have had no sales because delegates have not been coming here,” she said.
Other entrepreneurs were hopeful that things would change for the better as the general assembly progressed.
Mr Marshal Mashoko Mukombwe and Mr Michael Muchero from Kubatana Arts and Craft Centre in Harare, who carve curios using a semi-precious stone called lapidolite, said their products were bulky and they did not expect delegates to the UNWTO to buy them before the conference ended.
But they also conceded that they had not received inquiries about their carvings.
The exhibition, which attracted about 100 SMEs, was organised by the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development to take advantage of a potential market created by the general assembly which attracted thousands of people from all over the world.
Online Reporter