Zimpapers Logo

Harare International Conference Centre instead of the adjacent Exhibition Park after stakeholders complained of the poor standards at the arena.
The fair, set for October 8 to 12, had been moved to the Exhibition Park due to the lack of space at HICC that saw the expo being hosted there for the past two years.

This was after a year’s flirtation with the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair grounds in Bulawayo as ZTA searched for the ideal venue to host the country’s largest tourism fair.
“As you may know we had moved from HICC because the venue had become small. It still is, but we have listened to the recommendations of the players in the industry who complained about the ablution facilities and the distance between exhibition halls at the Exhibition Park. We will make use of marquees and Canadian tents which will give exhibitors over 3 456 square metres in additional space.

“We can’t go back to Bulawayo because the majority of players in the industry are based in Harare. Almost 60 percent of our local exhibitors come from the capital while 20 percent come from Victoria Falls and the rest from the other parts of the country and Bulawayo,” said ZTA chief executive Mr Karikoga Kaseke while addressing the media at the Tourism House recently.
Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe administrator Violet Rukande commended ZTA for taking onboard industry concerns.

“We are happy ZTA took in our concerns about the venue which was not conducive to the industry we represent. The exhibition halls were too far apart which made it difficult for us to co-ordinate and the ablution facilities were not good enough,” said Mrs Rukande.
Meanwhile, the People’s Republic of China is the partner country for this year’s edition of Sanganai/Hlanganani marking the first time the fair has had a country partner.

“National Tourism Administration of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese Embassy and the Zimbabwe International Travel and Tours are fully committed to the success of the fair. They have started recruiting exhibitors and buyers. They will further bring artistes from China to perform at the Tourism Night and Sanganai Chinese Night,” said Mr Kaseke.

In deciding on which country to partner, noted Mr Kaseke, they look at countries doing well in terms of generating tourists and chief among them is China, Poland, Germany and Russia. The country partner will have the largest contingent of exhibitors and buyers than any other foreign country exhibiting at the fair.

“We took this decision to bring in a foreign country as we hope to accelerate their performance. The country received 18 000 visitors from China last year and we are targeting 50 000 Chinese tourists by 2015. We have also invited Poland’s Minister of Tourism to attend the fair,” said Mr Kaseke.

This year’s edition of Sanganai/Hlanganani has so far seen 157 local exhibitors confirming their participation with 13 foreign exhibitors also confirming out of the intended 16. Over 30 media houses from across the globe are expected to grace the fair and a total of 290 hosted and non-hosted buyers are also expected to attend.