The Sunday News
Roberta Katunga and Noble Ncube, Business Reporters
@robertakatunga
PREPARATIONS for the return of Zimbabwe’s premium tourism show to Bulawayo, Sanganai/Hlanganani, are at an advanced stage with first time exhibitors taking full advantage of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority’s incentive to showcase freely.
National Convention Bureau managing director Mrs Tessa Chikaponya said the incentives offered by the ZTA this year had seen a 64 percent jump in exhibitors from 128 in 2015 to about 210 this year. A record 32 female-run hospitality facilities registered to exhibit at the expo which will run from Thursday to Saturday at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair grounds.
“As a way of encouraging participation of locals in such events, we offered motivation to first time exhibitors and women in the industry by letting them exhibit for free. The response has been overwhelming,” said Mrs Chikaponya.
Speaking on the setting up of stands, Mrs Chikaponya said those occupying larger spaces will start making up their exhibition areas from Monday (13 June) while others would do so on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“The exhibition centre is now ready, everything is in place and we are ready to host the return of Sanganai/ Hlanganani to Bulawayo. The Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry will hold a stakeholders meeting with tourism players in the city as we believe continuous engagement with industry is key to developing our sector,” she said.
She said marketing was a crucial tool in the tourism industry and the only way to access business, hence platforms like Sanganai/ Hlanganani that bring together buyers, operators and experts under one roof. Mrs Chikaponya added that exhibitors were trained on how to conduct business so as to reap maximum benefits during the expo.
“The training we held during the week was an eye opener to most exhibitors as we were teaching them how to conduct themselves and maximise on this event. We have also been encouraging them to do online matchmaking with buyers,” she said.
She said the ZTA was working closely with the School of Hospitality in Bulawayo. On the itinerary for the three days of Sanganai, Mrs Chikaponya cited a number of workshops and meetings.
“There is going to be an ICT workshop on 17 June at the VIP Lounge at ZITF. We want to encourage tour operators to embrace technology. We want to teach our local tourism fraternity to be able to make use of social sites on the internet. Social media should not only be used for entertainment purposes but to reach out to potential buyers and others within the industry.
“After that we are going to have a Youth Tourism symposium on 18 June. We need our youths to be well vexed with local tourism. Then we will have an incentive training workshop. This one is aimed at incentive travel for companies whereby workers who perform well are given travel incentives to various tourism destinations. As a result our local tourism operators need to work closely with incentive travel companies around the world because Africa is their best preferred destination,” she said.
Meanwhile, the first group of buyers from France and Switzerland arrived in the country on 6 June as more buyers continue to jet in through the different ports of entry mainly Harare International Airport, Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport and Beitbridge Border Post.
According to the ZTA, the buyers that came before the expo were there to conduct pre tours with the first group conducting visits to Kariba, Victoria Falls and Hwange before coming to Bulawayo for the expo. Mrs Chikaponya said no tours would be conducted during the Sanganai days but other tours will be done after the show.
“In Bulawayo, there will be full day tours at Matopos. The buyers will do rhino tracking with experienced guides as well as visit the bushman paintings in the caves. They will walk 200 kilometres within the park and visit Rhodes’ grave and Maleme Dam.
They will also inspect facilities namely Camp Amalinda and Farmhouse and other facilities so as to know exactly what to sell to source markets after getting first-hand experience,” she said.
She said city tours would be conducted as well as visits to the museum and Mzilikazi Arts and Craft Shop.
“Sanganai/Hlanganani is an event that will benefit Bulawayo immensely as a lot of people will get to sell their wares and provide services. This city is well known for its history and culture. During the expo, we will showcase cultural activities and dances,” she said.
The world-acclaimed tourism expo returns to Bulawayo after the Government gave a directive for the event to be held in a place with more adequate facilities. Last year and the previous six editions, it was held in Harare. The expo, which will be held at the ZITF, is also expected to rejuvenate tourism in Bulawayo, which like other industries in the city, has been operating below capacity.
