The Sunday News
Prosper Ndlovu
THE Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) Company has expressed readiness for the re-opening of the Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing and Exhibitions (MICE) industry, which is a key economic activity.
Alongside with the tourism sector, the MICE industry was hard hit by the tight global lockdown measures, which restricted local and international travel as governments sought to control the spread of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.
The Government had to postpone the flagship ZITF’s 61st edition that was set for April, alongside other key national events such as Independence Day on 18 April.
The restrictions on public gatherings and business operating hours adversely impacted on the business events and exhibitions industry, which lost nearly $1 billion, said ZITF Company acting general manager, Mr Nicholas Ndebele.
As the country works on strategies to foster a strong recovery from Covid-19, he said the MICE industry would play a critical role in rejuvenating economic activity in the country.
“Research has shown that MICE arrivals spend four times more than a leisure tourist. Therefore, MICE generates multiplier effects – varied industries benefit indirectly creating this snowball effect,” said Mr Ndebele.
“In the process, massive employment opportunities are created from the business events and exhibitions industry.
“Our studies show that our annual events can potentially create 2 000-4 000 direct and indirect jobs. A large percentage of the workforce are highly skilled freelancers who hardly access any financial support.
“So, the postponement and cancellation of several big-ticket events has resulted in loss of revenue running into millions of dollars. This, in turn, has had a significant impact across the business events value chain.”
Mr Ndebele said the entire Bulawayo business events’ ecosystem, for instance, caught pneumonia after the postponement of both ZITF and Mine Entra 2020.
He noted that hotels, lodges, restaurants, bars and some such actors in the ecosystem rely on ZITF to attain their annual sales budgets.
As the only ISO certified exhibitions and business events’ organiser in the country, Mr Ndebele said the ZITF Company will play its role in driving conversations around opening the industry in the post Covid-19 pandemic era.
He said the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre has remained open for use with the company providing facilities for conferences and trainings.
“As you may be aware, the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre (ZIEC) facility is adaptable for a variety of events and functions.
“Because of its capacity to allow social distancing in light of the Covid-19 protocols to mitigate against the spread of the pandemic we have comfortably hosted several business and social events in our six huge purpose-built halls,” said Mr Ndebele.
He, however, advised businesses to comply with all the set health protocols and guidelines to ensure safety of both workers, visitors and exhibitors.
With the developments around the success of the Covid-19 vaccines, Mr Ndebele expressed hope that prospects of recovery and MICE industry rebound were on the horizon.
