Today is the second day of the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo hosted by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority in Harare, with one of the sessions being on the future of MICE tourism in Zimbabwe and the MICE campaign launch with the mantra, “meet in Zimbabwe, your ideal meeting place”.
Nick Ndebele from the ZITF spoke of how innovation is taking centre stage due to the changes induced by COVID-19. Many organisations are coming up with innovative ways to adapt to this shift and the tourism sector has adapted.
There is need to digitise customer engagement as the world has turned more online to engage and find information on what they find interesting.
He further went on to say that customers have increased appetite for cleanliness when they travel as well as their appetite for modern infrastructure which Zimbabwe is capable to provide. Renewable energy is something he spoke about as a way to power facilities in Zimbabwe and the tourism sector needs to invest in renewable energy.
Walter Wanyanya from Jacaranda Festival spoke of the importance of festivals. He mentioned how festivals bring happiness and that a happiness in turn leads to productiveness as a happy person is an efficient person. Walter bemoaned the gathering restrictions due to the lockdowns and spoke of how vaccinations will lead to lifting of lockdowns allowing the gathering of large crowds in the entertainment sector.
Businesses profit from these festivals as there are downstream benefits for them. He mentioned of how hotels, airlines and other establishments benefit from the inflow of people brought in by festivals and events. Growth to motivate the uptake of festivals is needed in Zimbabwe, to include smaller cities like Chegutu, Chinhoyi and Mutare among other cities. This will boost the nation’s tourism sector and contribute towards the nation’s GDP.
Robin Brown from CANSAF Zimbabwe spoke of the importance of incentive travel by corporates. He views it as a unique experience for those taking part and Zimbabwe is an ideal destination of it as it has the big five and one of the World’s Wonders. Travellers to Zimbabwe see the nation as a safe and astounding destination stemmed from what it has and he further mentioned that there is need to market it as destination for incentive travel.
Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) is a type of tourism in which large groups, usually planned well in advance, are brought together and examples include teambuilding trips, reward trips and workations.
