Mumbai: Zimbabwe Tourism Authority recently hosted prominent travel agents from India on a familiarisation (FAM) trip.
Zimbabwe Tourism Board hopes to capitalise on the growing outbound market from India and increase tourist arrivals to Zimbabwe.
Karikoga Kaseke, CEO, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) said, “India is an emerging source market for us and we want to see a positive growth from this market. Indians have heard of the country Zimbabwe because it is a cricket-loving nation. However, they are not fully aware of the tourism facets of the destination. This FAM was conducted so that Indian travel trade can get first-hand experience of the wonders of Zimbabwe and can promote the destination further in their own country. We feel Indians are looking at exploring new and exciting destinations and Africa with its abundant wildlife and unique culture is a product they will love. Moving forward, we plan to conduct more familiarisation trips, roadshows for trade and one-on-one sales meetings in India with the help of VFS Global; our India representative.”
The agents who travelled to Zimbabwe on Ethiopian Airlines got the opportunity to tour the destination and witness its wonderful wildlife, culture and lodges along with a tour of the majestic Victoria Falls.
The agents were also present for the Sanganai/Hlanganani – World Tourism Expo 2018 held at Bulawayo city known as ‘City of Kings’.
The two day expo was an excellent platform for the Indian agents to network with various industry players of Zimbabwe and interact with some of the global tourism partners of the region.
The group visited Bulawayo, Matopos, Hwange National Park, Victoria Falls, Great Zimbabwe and Harare. They enjoyed activities like Lion walk, cultural dinner at Boma, day and evening game drives in Hwange National Park, helicopter ride over Victoria Falls and sunset cruise on the Mighty Zambezi River.