The Sunday Mail
Prince Mushawevato —
THE number of direct flights between Durban and Harare has increased to two per day as part of efforts to increase tourism relations between the two cities, a Durban tourism official has said.
Speaking at the just ended two-day Spotlight Travel workshop held at a local hotel in the capital, Durban tourism manager for regional marketing Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Melusi Khumalo, said they viewed Zimbabwe as a key source market within the region.
The official added that the two-day workshop held in Zimbabwe had not only enabled them to connect with key tourism players from this country but also the rest of the region. Moreover, they got to learn more about what the destination has to offer.
Zimbabwe is home to one of the world’s seven wonders, the majestic Victoria Falls, and has other world class attractions that come in the form of Gonarezhou National Park, Matobo Hills, the mighty Lake Kariba, Hwange National Park, Chinhoyi Caves, Mutarazi Falls, Mana Pools and Great Zimbabwe Monuments, among others.
“Tourism between our two countries should increase and one of the best ways to guarantee this happens is by making sure the number of direct flights to particular destinations are increased. I’m glad that we now have frequent direct flights between Durban and Harare,” said Khumalo.
“Some people may not be aware of this development thus it is through platforms like Spotlight Travel that we get to pass such information as well as market Durban as the warmest place to be.”
Spotlight Travel workshops aim to promote domestic tourism within Southern Africa and outbound tourism to the rest of Africa and Indian Ocean Islands.
The workshops, which where pioneered by Derek Houston, from Houston Travel Marketing services, have in the past been used to market Zimbabwe’s annual travel expo, Sanganai/Hlanganani.
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority head of corporate affairs Sugar Chagonda noted that Spotlight Travel and other similar events have in a way contributed to the annual growth of our arrivals in the last decade.
“The workshop brought in quality buyers from the region and this helps a lot in terms of destination marketing. We were very much a part of the workshop and look forward to more of such events.
Destination marketing comes in a lot of facets thus as a tourism authority we have deliberately made sure we don’t miss out on any opportunity that helps us push brand Zimbabwe,” said Chagonda.
Spotlight Travel, which is held in different parts of the world, attracts senior executives from major outbound travel and tour operators, hotel groups, airlines, tourist offices, etcetera.
More than 15 companies and organisations signed up to exhibit at the just ended workshop and among them were Qatar Airways, Mercure, Cresta, Kenya Association of Tour Operators, Kenya Association of Travel Agents and Durban Tourism.
But the number of exhibitors per country is limited as this allows for a range of countries to be represented at the road-show.
Miseni Duma, a marketing officer with Durban Tourism, who was in the country for the first time, said he was happy to be in Zimbabwe and to have learnt a couple of things concerning the country’s tourism.
“Basically we are here to sell Durban as a preferred destination to visit for the SADC market. Our main goal is to be the most visited city in Africa, thus we are here to promote events like Durban July, Indaba, the 25th Metro music awards and the International Jazz Extravaganza that will be held for the second time in Durban,” said Duma.
“We have ongoing projects like the 3, 1 billion rand Umhlanga development project that will consist of a five-star Radison Blu Hotel, two residential towers with 460 apartments, all with sea-facing views and a shopping centre offering investment opportunities that we sold to potential investors in this country and other exhibitors and visitors during the course of the workshop.”
Houston Travel Marketing’s 2017 Africa Spotlight Series is expected to visit seven cities including Harare, Lusaka, Gaborone, Luanda, Nairobi and Maputo.
The Zimbabwean workshop was held under the theme, “Promoting outbound travel from Zimbabwe to Overseas Destinations, Rest of Africa Domestic Tourism.”
