HARARE - Exhibitors at the just ended Sanganai/Hlanganani World Travel and Tourism Africa fair have registered displeasure following their failure to secure business deals with buyers. According to the exhibitors Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) had misinformed them of the number of buyers and tourist arrivals.
“ZTA told us that there were buyers from the western community and yet all we saw were the Chinese admirers who could not do any business but just take pictures,” said one exhibitor. Some of the exhibitors also added that they had actually promoted the Sanganai/Hlanganani tourism fair instead of benefiting from the fair, where they alleged that they had been charged as much as US$600 for a single stand.
“The authority failed to provide us with contacts for the buyers so that we could engage them in business,” said Fanuel Chigadza, the owner of arts unlimited, a sculptor group.
Most of the exhibitors attributed the flop to poor management and poor marketing on the side of the ZTA which they lambasted for advertising only in the local state media. - The Zimbabwean
