ZTA rejoins ICCA

Herald Reporter
The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) has rejoined the elite International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) after a two-year absence.

ICCA is the global meetings industry network. The reintegration has been a welcome and long awaited move that will go a long way in attracting new conferences and conventions to Zimbabwe.

The presence of Zimbabwe at IBTM world has also given an opportunity for training in use of the ICCA database in order to maximise the benefits that can be derived from it such as securing conference leads, access to research and marketing tools as well as networking with other members of the association.

“It is indeed a pleasure to have rejoined ICCA and we look forward to partnering them in capacity building programmes and marketing activities,” said ZTA’s acting director of the National Convention Bureau Ms Pauline Ndlovu.

The ICCA African Chapter’s regional director Esmare Steinhofel also shared her joy in the reinstatement of Zimbabwe at the recently held IBTM World in Barcelona, Spain.

She added that, ICCA is ready to conduct MICE capacity building workshops together with the Zimbabwe National Convention Bureau to give the industry a boost towards knowledge of the sector.

Other African countries have also expressed great joy in having Zimbabwe back on board saying the African Chapter will be stronger with more members.

Mrs Lindiwe Rakharebe, chairperson of the Durban International Convention Centre who are also African Chapter members said, “We are looking forward to having Zimbabwe take part in the upcoming 2020 ICCA events in South Africa, Innsbruck and China.”

The association meeting industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in tourism and contributing millions of dollars to the global economy. IBTM remains one of the top MICE events to gain visibility to new destination seekers and decision makers in the business tourism industry.

This year’s edition of IBTM was focusing among other areas, on technology and sustainability in MICE tourism and how players can maximise on the use of upcoming technologies to make their business events stand out.