Government has announced its decision to rotate the hosting of the Sanganayi/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo among the country’s provinces to promote their unique tourist attractions starting with this year’s edition.
The Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Barbra Rwodzi revealed the news to the media and stakeholders this week during a tour of the Mutare Sports Club in Mutare, Manicaland Province, which has been selected to host this year’s edition of the event, which is slated for 10 to 12 September.
“We did not randomly choose Manicaland, but we agreed that every year, we must have a destination that we speak loudly about so as to promote and market it. As a strategy, we want to go to different provinces every year. Victoria Falls is well known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but Victoria Falls is not Zimbabwe. This year, we are in Manicaland, and next year, we will be in Masvingo before moving to Mashonaland West. We want to promote local destinations.
“We need to promote Nyanga, Hot Springs and our mountains among other destinations. Mutare Sports Club will host the main events this year. Last year, tourism contributed 12 percent to the GDP overtaking agriculture due to the El Nino-induced drought and mining due to the fluctuation of the prices. Hence, tourism is important for the country,” the Minister quoted by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.
The Manicaland Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Advocate Misheck Mugadza expressed joy because of the development in view of the benefits which the province stands to derive from hosting the event. He said that the Province was ready to host the event and use it to market its numerous tourism attractions.
“This place (the Mutare Sports Club) should be able to accommodate the event. We were projecting the tourism sector in Manicaland to contribute seven percent to the provincial GDP, but with the province hosting this big event, we are now projecting it to contribute over ten percent to the provincial GDP,” Advocate Mugadza said.
For the past 17 years the event has been hosted at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair Company’s fairground, the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre (ZIEC), in Bulawayo.
Minister Rwodzi hinted at rotating the hosting of the event among the provinces in September last year in her address during the Tourism Investment Conference held in Bulawayo. Some tourism stakeholders in the city responded by suggesting that Government should let Bulawayo continue hosting the event while it creates opportunities for other cities and provinces. The Minister stressed that the decision was not calculated to deprive Bulawayo of the benefits that come with hosting the event, but to spread opportunities around the country.
The Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo is Zimbabwe’s premier event which is organised by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), and offers a platform for networking and business partnerships with international tourism players. The event is a successor of Shanyai/Vakatshani, the Zimbabwe International Travel Expo (ZITE), which was held annually at the Rainbow Towers Hotel and Conference Centre in Harare. ZITE started off as a small expo in 1982 and grew over the years to become one of Africa’s leading tourism showcases by 2007.