The Sunday News
Chrispen Gumunyu, Business Reporter
ACTING Minister of Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Kirsty Coventry said events of Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo’s magnitude play a pivotal role in selling the country as a destination of choice to the outside world.
Minister Coventry said the exhibition has the potential to grow the country’s tourism sector and contribute immensely to the revival of the economy.
“Bulawayo is a key part of the tourism industry in Zimbabwe and annual fairs like Sanganai/Hlanganani will go a long way in growing the tourism within the city and the country as a whole. We are delighted to be hosting such a large number of international buyers and media and locals should take this opportunity to showcase our country to the rest of the world,” she said.
Minister Coventry who is also Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation said during his tenure as a sportsperson she used to speak glowingly of the country’s wildlife and climatic conditions.
“Our wildlife is second to none. We have the best wildlife in the region and in the continent and the extremely wonderful weather but above all we are a people that know how to adapt to change . . . ,” she said.
Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Permanent Secretary Mr Munesushe Munodawafa said as part of ensuring continuous tourist inflows the Government was engaging tourism and hospitality players to come up with competitive prices.
“There is a concern that our prices are a bit on the high but in the regional context our prices are lower than countries such as Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo as well as other countries around us but that doesn’t mean that our pricing is right, we have to deal with our pricing, we have to make sure that we get it better so that we attract the person that we want to attract.
“The pricing is done at a private sector level so we continue to engage them and encourage them to charge rates that are affordable and they have done that on special occasions but by and large we hope that as business continues to grow we hope that their fixed costs will be low and they will be able to charge slightly lower rates,” he said
Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) president Mr Innocent Manyera said the tourism sector’s pricing model was competitive in the region but hinted that it was on the high end for domestic tourists.
“As a tourist it is in the favourable side since they are using forex. The element of travel that is reduced is of domestic travellers because of eroded disposable income due to inflationary pressures. Cost of living for domestic tourists is the one affecting travel where potential local tourists resort to put their incomes towards basics like food, shelter, education, health before they look at leisure. However, cost parameters differ with destination visited depending on demand because we cannot compare Eastern Highlands prices to that of Victoria Falls where demand is very high,” he said.
The 12th edition of Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo, which started last Wednesday ended yesterday.
The exhibition attracted 290 exhibitors compared to 318 exhibitors recorded in 2018, while 10 countries took part. The countries included Malawi, Botswana, Nigeria, Kenya, India, South Africa, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Angola and Ethiopia.
The number of buyers for this year’s tourism expo stood at 170, including 25 international media from different source markets which include Europe, Americas, China, Asia, Pacific, Africa and Middle East.
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