Sanganai, Hlanganani Tourism Business Expo is back

By Shingi威而鋼
rai Vambe

After two years of suspended interfacing and gathering, the Sanganai Hlanganani Tourism Business Expo is back, with tentative date set for mid-October.

The expo, which lately saw people from around the world come to the southern African country for the premier business exchange suffered a setback because of the novel corona virus, Covid-19 that affected the tourism business across the globe. Businesses caught a chill globally as the travel ban was blanket.

Hotels lost a lot of revenue, flights were cancelled and jobs were lost during the 2 year hiatus.

The relaxation and resuscitation of business in Zimbabwe led to the successful hosting of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in 2021 and 2022 has motivated the physical holding of the World Tourism Expo this year.

The Expo will be held in the City of Kings and Queens, at the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Friends and partners of the Post On Sunday Newspaper said they were happy to come to Zimbabwe once again for tourism business exchange.

“Thought it was going to be a virtual meeting, let me apply,” one tourism player from Zambia said.

The Zimbabwe International Trade Fair Chief Executive Officer, Dr Nick Ndebele said Sanganai comes in the wake of a long break due to Covid-19. He said he was excited to host the Indaba in Bulawayo.

“Our thrust is to up the game; we want to promote regional tourism as we expect more and more international tourists in the country. That platform is very important in sensitizing the market of the opportunities that exist with the current target of building a US$5 billion dollar tourism industry,” Ndebele said.

Ahead of the Expo, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, CEO Ms Winnie Muchanyuka is engaging with various players, key stakeholders who directly make the tourism business work in Zimbabwe.

Muchanyuka has met with the Immigration Director, Ms Respect Gono as part of efforts aimed at promoting accessible tourism for all through Zimbabwe ports of entries.

Head of cooperate affairs for the Authority, Godfrey Koti told this publication that the new CEO’s hands are on the deck to make tourism business a success in Zimbabwe.

Koti said the Immigration Department is a tourism stakeholder and the improvement of service delivery makes Zimbabwe fly together with the rest of competitors in the industry.

Muchanyuka highlighted during the meeting that a successful tourism product requires effective partnership and cooperation across many sector at the national, regional and international levels.

“Among a wide range of issues that we deliberated on, was the matter of accelerating our service Excellence training programs for staffers at ports of entry focusing on Beitbridge Border Post, Victoria Falls Airport, Robert Mugabe Airport and Joshua Nkomo Airport,” said Muchanyuka.

Gono welcomed the idea and collaboration with ZTA that will ensure best service delivery.