Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwe's minister for Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation visited the Sanganai/ Hlanganani World Tourism Expo held in Bulawayo representing the acting Minister of Tourism and met with exhibitors, buyers and media at Southern Africa's leading travel and tourism trade fair.
Speaking to Dubai-based Holiday Guide magazine, Kirsty Coventry expressed satisfaction at the steady growth in the number of foreign tourists visiting Zimbabwe in recent years and emphasised the need for more international promotions in key source markets to attract more tourists to Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe received approximately 2.5 million foreign visitors in 2018 compared to 2.4 million in 2017. The country is expecting this number to grow to 3 million in 2019 and aiming to double that figure by 2030, as part of Zimbabwe’s Vision 2030 plan. Innovative marketing strategies, digital marketing, advertising and promotions in key source markets are some of the promotional activities that Zimbabwe Tourism Authority is planning to further increase its inbound tourism traffic.
UNWTO Support
Zimbabwe's Tourism and Hospitality ministry recently concluded an agreement with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) to build a community viewing platform at a cost of US$100,000 in north-west of Zimbabwe. The agreement was signed by acting Minister of Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Mangaliso Ndhlovu in St. Petersburg in Russia where the UNWTO held its General Assembly meeting.
Accomplished Olympian
Kirsty Coventry is seven-time Olympic medalist, the only African and the third woman in history to break the 1:00min barrier in the Women 100m backstroke. She has the highest number of individual Olympic medals of all female swimmers in history.
In 2012, Kirsty was elected to the International Olympics Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission.
Coventry retired from sports in 2016 after the Rio de Janeiro Games, her fifth Olympics, having won seven of Zimbabwe's eight all-time medals.
She is currently serving as Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe
About Sanganai/Hlanganani – World Tourism Expo:
Sanganai/Hlanganani – World Tourism Expo is an annual Tourism Trade Fair organized by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. It showcases the widest variety of Africa’s best tourism products, and attracts international visitors and media from across the world. The fair is the successor of Shanyai/Vakatshani, the Zimbabwe International Travel Expo (ZITE) that was held annually at the Harare International Conference Centre. ZITE started as a small expo in 1982 and grew over the years to become one of Africa’s leading tourism showcases by 2007.
The past editions of Sanganai/ Hlanganani were a resounding success and attracted leading African destinations and major world tourism markets such as South Africa, Botswana, Malaysia, China, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Indonesia, India, Italy and many others. The editions have seen the whole world converging in Zimbabwe in the form of high calibre international buyers as well as exhibitors. The 2019 edition was held in the country’s second largest city, Bulawayo, and attracted buyers, sellers and media from the local, regional and international markets.
