Hospitality industry optimistic ahead of ZITF

TENDAI BHEBE IN BULAWAYO 

The hospitality industry in Bulawayo is optimistic ahead of  this year’s Zimbabwe International Trade Fair(ZITF) , which is scheduled for April.

ZITF  has announced that this year’s trade showcase will be  held from April 26 to 30.

“We are optimistic. We are expecting that ZITF is going to be as good as it was last year. We are hoping that all the lodges and hotels will be full. I am sure most entities would have started booking now and I am quiet hopeful that all institutions will also be full during that time,” the Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe representative for Bulawayo Metropolitan, Amanda Hadebe – Mathema said.

She encouraged hotels and lodges to look after the environment in the areas they operate in.

“We don’t want to be a business that does not look after the environment. So, we do it as part of our corporate social responsibility to look after the areas we operate from. The visitors who come to the hotel, they also want to come to the city as their businesses do not end at the hotel. The overall impression that they get about the city can influence their next decision to stay or to come back,,” Hadebe-Mathema said.

Participation at last year’s ZITF was fairly representative of all economic sectors with the event attracting a total of 373 direct exhibitors and an additional 120 indirect exhibitors.

A total of 11 foreign nations among them; Indonesia, South Africa, Mauritius, Angola, Botswana and Namibia participated at ZITF 2021.

Meanwhile, in  a statement ZITF board chairperson Busisa Moyo said the trade seeks to create  new and accelerate the domestication of existing value chains

“By leveraging networking opportunities at the trade show and interacting with new ways of doing business, participants can reimagine their business models and reconfigure their supply chains to become more flexible, agile and resilient.

“The ZITF 2022 theme is also in line with the National Development Strategy NDS 1, which seeks to create new and accelerate the domestication of existing value chains by promoting diversification and competitiveness,” he said.