The late Vice President, Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo, will be honored during this year’s edition of the Sanganai/Hlanganani Travel Expo slated for Bulawayo early next month through a narrative dubbed Tourism Heritage Trail meant to promote the liberation war icon.
The Tourism Heritage Trails according to Zimbabwe Tourism Authority Chief Executive, Dr Karikoga Kaseke entail the crafting of roots that tourists can undertake if they want to understand the history behind an iconic figure or any heritage.
“We are certain that this product will be a success and we will not only profile the region where the late Vice President hailed from, but we will take tourists across our great nation because Father Zimbabwe was never confined to Bulawayo. He was far more popular in other parts of the country than he was in Bulawayo,” Kaseke told a media briefing ahead of the 11th edition of the annual tourism expo.
Kaseke added that the the family and the Joshua Nkomo Foundation had already been informed of the honor.
ZTA will hold a march on September 5 in honor of Dr Nkomo to kick-start the WHT.
The Sanganai/Hlanganani Travel Expo, which continues to grow bigger, has attracted 300 companies and 240 hosted international buyers as well as 15 international media.
According to Kaseke, South Africa leads with 25 Tour Operators have confirmed their participation, a move which he attributed to good working relations between Zimbabwe and South Africa.
“As you know South Africa has been our big brother but they only started participating at Sanganai last year. For years, even during the travel expo, they had stopped coming to the travel expo for the reasons that we all know.
“For political reasons, Zimbabwe was not seen in good light by most of these countries not because they were are our detractor, but because of what we were doing to ourselves then, in the old era.
“Countries were shunning us but starting last year, countries have been coming in. South Africa has come in a big way as we have over 25 tour operators who will be packaging Zimbabwe,” said Kaseke.
Meanwhile, international buyers to this year’s edition of Sanganai/ Hlanganani World Travel and Tourism Expo have started arriving ahead of the expo scheduled for 6 – 8 September 2018 in Bulawayo at the ZITF Grounds.
Yesterday saw the first group of buyers arriving from Germany, France, Italy and the Benelux who are scheduled for various pre-Sanganai tours across the country.
The buyers are expected to sample and appreciate the country’s tourism product that will aid informed packaging across markets.
The tours will proffer Zimbabwe’s tourism hotspots of Mana pools, Bumi Hills, Kariba, Eastern Highlands, Gonarezhou, Masvingo, Victoria Falls, Hwange, Binga, Matopos and Bulawayo.
