Buyers troop in for tourism expo

INTERNATIONAL buyers from across the world continue with their tour of the country’s resort destinations and over the weekend they visited Victoria Falls as part of the pre-Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo activities.

A total of 100 buyers from across the world are expected to attend the 15th edition of the prime tourism expo, which kicks off on Thursday in Bulawayo and ends on Saturday.

In 2020 the event was held virtually and in 2021 it was a hybrid event due to Covid-19.
On Saturday and Sunday, a group of buyers from Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, India and other countries sampled some of the exciting tourism leisure spots at different places.

Some of the activities include tour of the mighty water falls, sunset cruise, tour of the bridge, zip line and game drives, among others. They had dinner at a local hotel on Sunday evening and were being hosted by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), which host the premier Sanganai/Hlanganani event.

ZTA spokesperson Mr Godfrey Koti said they were excited by the ongoing destination tours by international buyers, adding that all was ready for the successful hosting of the expo.

“As we build up the momentum ahead of the event, this is Bulawayo’s opportunity to position itself as a unique cultural and tourism destination given its rich heritage and attractive surrounding facilities,” he said.

He said it was all systems go and the organisers were looking forward to a successful expo including the sideline events that include the tourism investment conference, breakfast meeting jointly organised Zimra, ministerial roundtable meeting, family fun-day, sports tourism focus and a session for students on tourism.

Speaking in Victoria Falls, the buyers said there was a need to vigorously market local tourism places.
“I’m here to sell my country and also understand other new authentic sites in Zimbabwe. Our focus this time is on Zimbabwe and Sadc and we are grateful to ZTA and team for doing a marvelous job as we have to help each other sell Zimbabwe,” said a buyer from Botswana.

Another one identified as Carol from Kenya said the tour around Zimbabwe in the past few days had been an eye opener and beneficial to her. “We have benefited by being in Zimbabwe for the past two days as we now fully understand why Zimbabwe is a World of Wonders.

The experience is awesome and we also had to see the falls through the eye of an elephant, that’s a rare experience interacting with elephants and we are already enjoying this destination and hope to interact with more Zimbabweans at Sanganai/Hlanganani,” she said.

Carol said globalisation should also be implemented in tourism where African member states should push for seamless tourism.

“We are becoming one Africa with no borders as we are looking forward to having seamless itineraries across the continent. There is so much that people don’t know that we look forward to give out as agents and Hlanganani is an event not to be missed,” she said.

File picture: Sanganai/Hlanganani International Tourism Expo

Mr Dideye Bayeye, a tourism expert from Global Travel Africa Network in Johannesburg said Victoria Falls is an amazing destination yet there are few Africans who have visited it. He implored travel agents to promote destination.

“To be here to attend Hlanganani tourism expo means a lot and this trip, which is organised before the conference comes as a great experience as we seek to promote African destinations.

“We need to join hands as travel agents and tour operators to promote African destinations in our material, bucket list and our websites so that clients will know that Zimbabwe is a great destination for Africans as well. This is a call to all Africans to consider Zimbabwe as a destination,” he said.

Mr Vikas Mittal of India said Zimbabwe stands to benefit from millions of Indian tourists in the coming years.

“So far there has been a lot of information shared by the host and that is very informative. Indians have changed travelling habits and want to explore nature, cultures and roots. In the next five to 10 years Indians will be among top travellers. They are exploring different areas and Africa is coming up,” he said.

“We have seen Indians liking South Africa and lately Kenya and they are looking beyond that and Zimbabwe is on their list. The food dishes in Zimbabwe and accommodation are attractive.” –chronicle.c.zw