By Byron Mutingwende
The Sanganai Hlanganani Tourism Expo has kicked off on a high note at the famous Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo.
Addressing the media at a press briefing at the expo today, Mr. Givemore Chidzidzi, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA)’s Acting Chief Executive said his organisation’s projection and planning for Sanganai Hlanganani had come to fruition despite the fact that the country has lost two national heroes, former President Robert Mugabe and Major General Trust Mugoba on 6 September 2019.
“We are delighted that the numbers which we projected and planned have come to fruition. Sanganai Hlanganani is here with the same number of international buyer and media as promised.
“A good number of people thought it would not go ahead since we lost two high-profile people including the nation’s founding father, Former President Mugabe,” Mr. Chidzidzi said.
For this year, there are already 170 buyers and 25 international media practitioners with 10 countries represented on the buyers’ side. There are already 290 exhibitors with more inquiries coming through. The speed networking session gave the platform for buyers and sellers to interact.
Most of the buyers went on a pre-Sanganai tour of some of Zimbabwe’s pristine tourist destinations like the Eastern Highlands, Gonarezhou, Kariba and Mana Pools just to mention a few.
There will be some post Sanganai Hlanganani tours and Mr. Chidzidzi was optimistic the show would be completed on the same momentum. He invited both the media, sellers and buyers to sample the sustainable tourism project offered by Bulawayo Polytechnic as well as the culinary tourism preceded by the Zimbabwe Food Expo being exhibited at the showcase.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Tourism Business Council was gratified that the ZTA had successfully staged the 12th edition of the Sanganai Hlanganani World Tourism Expo.
“There is a lot of input from both the industry and ZTA. In terms of décor and stand designs we have seen an improvement. Another encouraging thing is that we got a good number of buyers carefully selected by both the ZTA and the industry.
“All that is indicative of a good start of the expo and everyone is confident that they brought the best buyers to drive the industry forward,” Mr. Matamisa said.