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BERLIN — Local tour operators were conspicuous by their absence at the world’s leading tourism trade fair and in the process missed an opportunity to partner foreign operators in packaging Zimbabwe as a destination.
The 44th edition of ITB Berlin, the premier travel fair ends today but Zimbabwe will be counting the costs as European tour operators could not find their Zimbabwean counterparts to do business.
Under normal circumstances a foreign tour operator will work with a local one which would do all the leg work: looking for accommodation, activities; and airfares among others.
There was no single car hire firm from Zimbabwe at the fair and the absence could be attributed to cashflow problems.
But Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) chief operating officer Givemore Chidzidzi said an invitation had been sent to all players.
As a result, the foreign operators had to resort to players from South Africa prejudicing Zimbabwe of the much needed revenue.
The disadvantage it has on Zimbabwe as a destination is that South African tour operators are not 100% selling Zimbabwe as a destination so they offer competing destinations, Standardbusiness was told.
Secondly it affects the length of stay and this will impact on the revenue generated by tourism players.
Foreign tour operators said Zimbabwe was not offering a complete product in terms of packaging.
The small Zimbabwean contingent comprising of African Sun, Rainbow Tourism Group, Air Zimbabwe, National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe was kept busy throughout the fair as operators made inquiries on Zimbabwe as a destination.
The interest is there and some operators who had severed ties with Zimbabwe have a change of heart stimulated by the stability ushered in by the formation of an inclusive government last year.
Tour operators such as Djoser and Studiosus are putting Zimbabwe in their catalogues.
The packages include a 20-day visit of Zimbabwe covering all major attractions.
“This is almost guaranteed business, it means they have talked with various service providers,” Chidzidzi said.
The operators are interested in Zimbabwe’s five UNESCO world heritage sites- Victoria Falls, Mana Pools, Great Zimbabwe, Matopos and Khami Ruins.
They are interested also interested in the Jerusalem dance recognised by UNESCO as an intangible world heritage resource.
Chidzidzi said some of the operators want to visit Zimbabwe to see the current status of the tourism product.
Some of the tour operators will be buyers for this year’s tourism fair, Sanganai/Hlanganani in October to get a feel of the product before packaging the destination.
It was not only in the absence of tour operators where Zimbabwe was found wanting.
The number of exhibitors itself was discouraging considering that the nation hopes to get revenue from the soccer World Cup to held in South Africa in June.
Countries such as South Africa and Namibia had a big presence at the fair.
In the case of Zimbabwe, ZTA pays more than half of the costs of booking space with the industry meeting the remainder unlike in South Africa and Namibia where donors foot a big chunk of the bill.
A total of 11 127 exhibitors from 187 countries graced the ITB Berlin 2010 which opened on Wednesday.
Last year there were 11 098 exhibiting companies from the same number of countries.
BY NDAMU SANDU
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