Lastword Musekiwa | 9 months ago | business
Preparations for this year’s edition of the Sanganai/Hlanganani - World Tourism Expo have begun, with organisers targeting at least three hundred exhibitors and about one hundred and fifty buyers.
The annual tourism trade fair courtesy of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), running for the 15th year, comes alive after a two-year physical break due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In an interview with Zimpapers Radio News, ZTA Head Corporate Affairs Godfrey Koti said, the national signature event for tourism players is slated for the 13th to the 15th of October at the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre in Bulawayo and has attracted a huge global markets.
“We have had a quite a huge interest from international markets including The United Kingdom, Germany, The United States, The United Arab Emirates among others. We also had to trim down the number of buyers from over four hundred to one hundred and fifty,” said Koti.
He added that the buyers will interact with the local tourism industry players and create business synergies in order to market the Zimbabwe brand on the international market.
According to the ZTA Tourism Trends Statistics Report of last year, operators showed confidence in the future of tourism by investing in the sector despite the Covid-19 induced setbacks. Investments in the tourism sector grew by 147% in 2021 totaling US$180.4 million from US$72.9 million recorded in 2020.
The authority added that accommodation subsector had the highest absolute increase in new investment value rising from US$48.4 million in 2020 to US$90.7 million in 2021.
Previous editions of Sanganai/ Hlanganani exhibition has attracted leading African destinations and major world tourism markets including South Africa, Botswana, Malaysia, China, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Indonesia, India, Italy and many others.