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Ivan Zhakata

Herald Correspondent

ZIMBABWE successfully exhibited for the first time at the recently concluded Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Fair in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The fair which ran from 17 to 19 March, organised a symposium that saw industry professionals from both the public and private sector.

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) executive director for international marketing, Mr Jeffreys Manjengwa, said Destination Zimbabwe was targeting emerging markets such as Malaysia, Singapore and various South East Asian countries.

“It was such a great show for us as the ZTA. We are looking at harnessing the flow of tourists from this part of the world into the destination. This is in an effort to meet the country’s tourist arrivals targets. Zimbabwe and Uganda were the only two African countries that participated,” he said.

“Zimbabwe’s participation raised a lot of enthusiasm for the Malaysian market. The market became aware of the existence of Africa as a continent and Zimbabwe as a major destination in Southern Africa. Interestingly, the indication is that around 90 percent of the traffic who came to the show were not well-aware of the destination or physical location of Zimbabwe, however interestingly the market is aware of our major icon, Victoria Falls.

“The greatest takeaway from this engagement is that awareness of destination Zimbabwe raised a lot of interest such that operators have already begun including Zimbabwe in their packages.”

Thirty Agencies expressed interest in collaborating with the ZTA to come on a destination familiarisation tour later this year during Sanganai-Hlanganani World Tourism Expo.

The MATTA Fair attracted over 460 exhibitors and proved to be the leading consumers travel fair in Malaysia, while about 100 000 visitors from Malaysia, ASEAN, and the rest of the world attended the fair.