TOURISMBusiness Council of Zimbabwe (TBCZ) says the country stands to benefit from its participation at this year’s ITB currently underway in Berlin, Germany.
ITB creates business connections and networking opportunities for the tourism players which can be translated into tangible business deals within a period of about two year period.
ITB is arguably the world’s leading tourism platform attracting the participation of 187 countries, 1 000 qualified top buyers, 10 000 exhibitors, 120 000 trade visitors, 26 000 convention visitors and more than 160 000 private and public visitors alike.
Zimbabwe is represented by about 28 local tourism industry players up from 15 who participated last year and taking about 72 square metres in exhibition space.
TBCZ chief executive officer Paul Matamisa who is part of the Zimbabwe delegation that is being led by Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Prisca Mupfumira said the travel show is a must visit.
“ITB is a must attend show for the tourism industry by virtue of its magnitude, it is by and large the leading travel trade show in the world, so Zimbabwe stands to benefit immensely from networking with seasoned travel professionals to give them an appreciation of Zimbabwe’s tourism offering and include it in their packages,” he said.
Speaking on the sidelines of ITB, Minister Mupfumira said the Germany market remains an important source of outbound tourists to the country and hence the need to intensify destination promotion in that market.
“….(Germany) remains one of Zimbabwe’s key source markets ranked 3rd in overseas arrivals after the United States of America and the United Kingdom, contributing 37,304 arrivals last year.
“This is a clear indication of the significance of this market to Zimbabwe’s tourism economy hence the need for intensified investment in destination promotion,” she said.
Some of the local players exhibiting at ITB Berlin include Cresta Hotels (Pvt) Ltd, Amalinda Safari Collection, Wild Horizons and African Sun Hotels.
