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Wimbainashe Zhakata Mutare Correspondent
MUTARE City Council was named the first runner-up in the best publicity association category at this year’s edition of Sanganai/Hlanganani World Travel and Tourism Expo held in Bulawayo last week.

The expo was held at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair grounds and ran from September 6 to 8.

In an interview with The Herald, Mutare City Council public relations officer Mr Spren Mutiwi expressed great joy and excitement over the council’s feat saying the honour had come at a time they were mulling to rebrand as an authority.

He said: “As the City Council of Mutare we participated in the 11th edition of Sanganai/Hlanganani and we are very much excited by receiving the award because it came at a time when we were persuing the rebranding programme.

“This rebranding programme focuses on where we are coming from and where we are going as a local authority. We are realigning our systems on service delivery because we are coming from a scenario where people thought we were nothing and now we have turned the tables around. However, Sanganai/Hlanganani gave us the opportunity to market our various tourism products.”

Mutare City Council recently announced its ambitious intentions of embarking on night tourism supported by the construction of a five-star hotel at the Christmas Pass and the introduction of  cable cars for which they are seeking investors to partner with.

“The major thrust of the project is that we will use the Christmas Pass Hotel as our drawcard as it gives marvellous scenic views of the topography below and the city of Mutare as it spreads westwards,” Mr Mutiwi said.

He also hinted that Mutare City Council had capitalised on the expo to market its night tourism plans and see if they could get interested investors buying into the project.

“Through promoting night tourism Mutare City Council is looking forward to getting a positive response from both local and international investors,” said Mr Mutiwi.