Students promote Zim tourism in Türkiye
TWO Zimbabweans studying in Türkiye took advantage of their attendance at the 2024 East Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Exhibition (EMITT) to promote their country’s tourism sector.
The two, Cadrick Chimuti and Tanaka Muvezwa, said they did this in response to President Mnangagwa’s call on every Zimbabweans, wherever they are, to advance the engagement and re-engagement policy being driven by the Second Republic.
The EMITT ran from February 6 to 9 in Istanbul.
In an interview, Chimuti said he had the opportunity to be interviewed by EMITT as one of the few African representatives at the expo.
“This was an opportunity to promote the Zimbabwean tourism sector as well as other investment opportunities in various sectors such as agriculture and mining, with the aim of attracting investment through tourism business,” he said.
“I had a meeting with Konya Metropolitan Municipality alongside my colleague researcher, Tanaka Muvezwa, where we discussed developments in agro-tourism and they invited our Ministry of Agriculture to visit Konya, the leading agricultural city in Türkiye, to explore potential trade opportunities.
“After our interview with the organisers of the expo, we gained the attention of one of the leading Turkish newspapers called The Hotel Gazetesi, which also interviewed us and we took the opportunity to promote Zimbabwean hotels and we also discussed MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) opportunities, which are strategic platforms that we identified as a key objective in the National Development Strategy for tourism in Zimbabwe.”
As one of the top five tourism exhibitions worldwide, EMITT annually attracts thousands of industry professionals and tourists looking for new and exciting travel opportunities from destinations and travel service companies from across the globe.
The show is a valuable business platform providing new business and co-operation opportunities to the Turkish and global travel sectors. EMITT showcases country pavilions, holiday destinations, summer and winter tourism, outdoor tourist destinations, hotels and tourist centres, tour operators, travel agencies and much more.
The Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, led by Minister Barbara Rwodzi, is taking advantage of every platform to promote destination Zimbabwe.
The emphasis is on growing foreign visitors and critically, encouraging Zimbabweans to visit tourist attractions in their country under the ‘ZimBHO’ campaign.
A number of high-profile visitors such as Equatorial Guinea Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, Sao Tome and Principe Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada, Virgin Atlantic CEO Sir Richard Branson and Scotland national football team captain John McGinn, have been in Zimbabwe recently to sample its tourist attractions.
Last Thursday, Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Zhou Ding visited Great Zimbabwe and posted on his X handle: “Pleasure to visit Great Zimbabwe, a Zimbabwe national monument and a Unesco World heritage site. Amazed by the majestic and astonishing architectural wonder, which makes me think of the Great Wall in China. Proud of the great works by China and Zimbabwe ancestors.”