Zimbabwe hosts incentive travel summit
Zimbabwe will be hosting the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) Executive Summit set for Victoria Falls from Wednesday 21 June to Friday 23 June. Zimbabwe Tourism Authority Chief Executive Officer, Ms Winnie Muchanyuka said hosting the summit presents an opportunity for the country to position itself as a strong emerging destination for incentive travel, and rubber stamps the country’s Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (Mice) agenda.
SITE is a professional and prestigious association of incentive travel consultants dedicated exclusively to the global incentive travel industry.
Its executive leadership team are C-Suite executives from leading businesses in the field of incentive travel, across Zimbabwe’s source markets and beyond, and are thought leaders and key decision-makers pioneering the growth of the US$$75billion incentive travel industry.
“Zimbabwe is ready to host the SITE Executive Summit, preparations are at an advanced stages and we’re looking forward to a fruitful session this week.
“Delegates have started arriving for the summit that will see 25 International Board Members of the Society spending the week in the Majestic Victoria Falls,” said Ms Muchanyuka.
“To us, this presents an opportunity for the industry to position the country as a strong emerging destination for incentive travel. This will in-turn provide incentive planners’ ongoing search for new destinations that offer truly unique, authentic and creative experiences,” added Ms Muchanyuka.
By hosting the event, Zimbabwe provides incentive planners with an opportunity to ratify the ongoing search for new destinations that offer truly unique, authentic and creative experiences.
Incentive travel uses once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences as the ultimate reward or prize for extraordinary performance in a business setting.
According to recent research, incentive travel budgets are expected to rise by 34 percent in 2023, with a gradual return to mid/long-haul destinations.
Ms Muchanyuka said the visiting delegation would have an opportunity to sample some of the exclusive incentive-ready properties in Zimbabwe and participate in engaging activities in the adventure capital, Victoria Falls.
“We’re honoured and quite excited to have the SITE executive in the country. We view them as ambassadors who will reinforce our marketing efforts in driving the viability of incentive travel in Zimbabwe. We’re certain that this is a perfect opportunity for them to explore our MICE products and it is our hope that they will take some time to enjoy what Victoria Falls has to offer,” Ms Muchanyuka noted.
She added that the initiative will expose key executives to Zimbabwe’s unique selling points and help attract more incentive travellers to the country, translating to the increased tourist arrivals we are striving to achieve.
SITE chief executive officer Ms Annette Gregg, MBA, CMM, said her organisation is looking forward to working with Zimbabwe.
“SITE is committed to working with new and emerging destinations and helping position and refine their offerings for discerning incentive travel qualifiers. With its unique natural setting, world heritage sites and incentive-ready resorts, hotels and lodges, Zimbabwe has so much to offer. SITE looks forward to working with the local incentive travel community to delivering award-winning incentive travel programmes in Southern Africa,” said Ms Gregchronicle.cl.zw
