Zimbabwe is an attractive tourist destination – specially for desert dwelling residents in the Middle East. Emirates operates a daily flight between Dubai and Harare, making it easier for Middle East travellers to explore this beautiful country. As a result, an increasing number of visitors from the Middle East are now visiting Zimbabwe - making it one of the new holiday destinations that is gaining popularity among residents and expatriates living in the region. Unlike many other African countries, Zimbabwe boasts of a world-class tourism infrastructure and has some of the most luxurious hotels and lodges in the Southern African region. The African Sun Group is one of the largest players in the hospitality and hotels sector of Zimbabwe and runs as many as 11 prestigious hotels and lodges across the country.  Established in 1968, the African Sun Group has hotels in every major tourist destination in Zimbabwe and in four out of the five major cities in the country – thereby making the African Sun Group a perfect host for those looking for a luxurious and unforgettable experience when visiting Zimbabwe. Our editorial team stayed at a few properties run by the African Sun during our recent visit to Zimbabwe and we were greatly impressed by the amenities and service levels provided at these properties. We caught up with Tariro Ndebele, Group Sales and Marketing Director, African Sun for an informal chat...

Zemen Bank and Emirates have partnered to offer alternative payment options for buying air tickets and pay for other services of the airline. The new service will allow customers in Ethiopia to buy air tickets through Zemen Bank instead of physically going to the Emirates office in Bole. Customers in Ethiopia can now pay for their Emirates air tickets at branches of Zemen Bank located throughout the country. “We are teaming up with Zemen, as it is a corporate bank and offer our increasing customers the chance to pay for their tickets at its various locations across the many branches,” said Manoj Nair, the Country Manager of Emirates in Ethiopia. “This way, we will make it easier for our ever-growing clientele to pay and enjoy our services. “We consider Ethiopia as an important market for us and we continue to find new ways and partnerships to make our services available across the entire nation”, Manoj added. Dubai-based Emirates airline, now the fourth largest aviation company in the world, has been operational in Ethiopia since 2006. It operates a daily flight to Dubai using a Boeing 777 plane and uses Addis Ababa as its connecting hub for the region.  Zemen Bank, one of the growing private banks in the nation is known to have a working relationship with some of the leading brand institutions operating in the nation, including Heineken, the Ethiopian arm of the United Kingdom Department of International Agency and Africa Oil.

21 September 2019, Dubai: The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) led a business and government delegation to Ethiopia in order to explore new business opportunities to further expand bi-lateral trade and tourism ties between Ethiopia and Dubai. With a primary focus of exploring investment opportunities in Ethiopia's booming tourism and real estate sectors, the DCCI-led delegation met with their business counterparts in Ethiopia at a special B2B session organised at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Addis Ababa. Organized jointly by the UAE Embassy in Addis Ababa and the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce, the two-day business forum brought together businesses from Dubai and Ethiopia for one-on-one discussions to further cement cooperation and networking among major stakeholders in the tourism, real estate and trading sectors. Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) has opened its office in Addis Ababa in 2014, making it the first office in the African continent. “We are seeking ways to further expand our bi-lateral trade ties with Ethiopia eversince we opened our office in 2014,” said Omar Abdulaziz Khan, Director of International Office under the International Relations of Dubai Chamber of Commerce “Now, there are lots of opportunities,” he said. “Tourism business business is booming in Ethiopia. The connectivity is already there, as we already have Ethiopian Airlines, Fly Dubai and Emirates. This is a beautiful place to visit, with diverse culture, people and food,” said Omar Abdulaziz Khan. “We represent around 90 million passengers annually and 75 million of these passengers go to destinations all across the world. So, we are looking at how we can bring some of those passengers to Ethiopia,” he said. During the opening session of the business forum, Ethiopia's State Minister of Trade and Industry, Misganu Arega said that Ethiopia has been working to use UAE’s enormous trade and investment potential, capitalizing on its wider business opportunities and geographic proximity. Misganu said that the government has formulated favourable investment policies and has allocated the bulk of its budget to infrastructural development, to facilitate conditions for investors who want to do business in the country. Representatives from the Ethiopian Investment Commission as well as the Ethiopian Industrial Parks Development Corporation presented the necessary business information, facts and data currently available in the Ethiopian investment and business environment. The two-day business forum is sure to play an important role in attracting investments from Dubai into Ethiopia's booming tourism and real estate sectors. On the other hand, it will pave the way in expanding Ethiopia's exports to Dubai in the coming years.

Ethiopian Airlines scooped the top prize at the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo being held at in Bulawayo after being named Best Airline Stand ahead of Air Tanzania, second runner up and Air Zimbabwe, first runner up. Bulawayo, the host city for Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo also scored a double including overall award at a glittering awards ceremony.  Earlier in the year, Ethiopian Airlines had also won the ‘African Champion of the Year’ Award at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali which was being attended by more than 1,800 delegates. Ethiopian Airlines, the largest Aviation Group in Africa and SKYTRAX certified Four Star Global Airline has emerged as one of the leading airlines connecting Africa to the world. In recent years, Ethiopian Airlines has emerged as the fastest growing airline in Africa. In its 70+ years of operations, Ethiopian has become one of Africa’s leading carriers, unrivalled in efficiency and operational success. Ethiopian commands the lion’s share of the Pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet to more than 119 international passenger and cargo destinations across five continents. "We are proud to receive this award and consider this accolade as a reward for our services in promoting Zimbabwe's booming tourism industry," said Wogayehu Terefe, country manager of Ethiopian Airlines in Zimbabwe after receiving the award at a glittering ceremony held on the sidelines of the Sanganai/ Hlanganani World Tourism Expo held in Bulawayo that was organised by Zimbabwe Tourism Authority.  

Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo is an annual tourism trade fair organized by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. It showcases the widest variety of Africa’s best tourism products and attracts international visitors and media from across the world. The expo, held at the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre in Bulawayo between 12 - 14 September 2019, has become a permanent feature on Zimbabwe’s tourism calendar. In its 13th year, the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo 2019 drew exhibitors from all across the tourism and hospitality industry. The expo also registered an increase in the number of hosted buyers and international media persons that flew in specially for the expo from different parts of the world. Over the years, Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo has become a premier tourism expo held in Zimbabwe each year and has attracted exhibitors, buyers, investors and media persons from the local, regional and international markets. It has also played an important role in promoting Zimbabwe's tourism industry by showcasing the various tourist attractions and the world-class tourism infrastructure that the country has painstakingly built over the years. Talking to Holiday Guide magazine, Kirsty Coventry, the acting minister of tourism said: "“Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo has been a good platform for us to showcase our country's tourism industry and attract more tourists to Zimbabwe and we hope that this year too, the event is going to make a positive impact on our tourism industry like it always has.”  Growth in Arrivals During a press conference held on the sidelines of the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo, Givemore Chidzidzi, acting CEO for Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, confirmed the growth in the number of international tourist arrivals to Zimbabwe – recording a total of 2.6 million international tourist arrivals in 2018, up six per cent from the 2.4 million arrivals in 2017. Business and leisure travellers across the world are searching for new meetings and conference options as traditional venues in Europe become more expensive and hard to reach. Against this backdrop, exotic new destinations such as Zimbabwe are gaining increasing popularity due to its modern tourism infrastructure, relatively low costs and ease of travel. As a result, Zimbabwe is becoming a popular destination for the leisure and conference markets in the Southern Africa region and has been able to earn a substantial amount of much needed tourism dollars for its ailing economy. Improved air connectivity as well as targeted marketing campaigns aimed at new and emerging tourist markets like the Middle East and Asia have yielded good results for Zimbabwe's tourism industry.  Airport Upgrade The newly refurbished Victoria Falls Airport has also undergone a total revamp and has emerged as Zimbabwe’s second international airport after Harare. The Victoria Falls Airport was upgraded by China Jiangsu International and has seen a significant increase in its passenger handling capacity which has grown from 500,000 per year to 2 million per year.  Regional Market Tourists from the regional Southern Africa region form a major portion of tourist arrivals in to Zimbabwe – with South African visitors leading the brigade. But it’s not only South Africans who are realising the value of Zimbabwe as an attractive tourist destination in the Southerrn Africa region. Arrivals from Angola and Zambia account for significant portion of incoming tourists into Zimbabwe, whilst visitor figures from Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom have also seen a gradual increase in the last two years. Corporate Travel Recent reports confirm that the incoming flights of RwandAir, Emirates and Ethiopia Airlines have been ferrying visitors to the Zimbabwe from different parts of the world. Givemore Chidzidzi pointed to an upsurge in corporate travel from SADC, but agreed that there is still room for improvement and further growth. “It is important to inform the regional and international consumers of what Zimbabwe has to offer through tourism campaigns and incentives. We have been using various communication tools and media campaigns to highlight Zimbabwe's tourist attractions and the results are now beginning to show –  which are positive signs for Zimbabwe's growing tourism sector.” Zimbabwe aims to increase its incoming tourist arrivals to 5 million by 2020. However, the economic hardships faced by the country has crippled the Tourism ministry to undertake marketing initiatives due to lack of funds. "At Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo we hosted a team of media persons from all across the world in order to spread the word about our country's excellent tourism attractions and world-class tourism infrastructure in a bid to tap into new and emerging markets like the Middle East and Asia," said Godfrey Koti, head of Corporate Affairs at Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. "With air improved connectivity, we are hoping to see a a substantial increase in tourist arrivals from various parts of the world," he said. B2B Networking Special sessions of Speed Networking were conducted during the two-day Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo where buyers and sellers were able to negotiate business face-to-face and form longterm business alliances. "The B2B Speed Networking was specially helpful in establishing direct B2B contacts with industry professionals from the local, regional and international markets," said Mevis Guedes, brand manager for Zimbabwe-based Rainbow Tourism Group. "It helped us reach industry leaders from various parts of the world and form new business alliances," added Mevis. Exhibitors, buyers and media delegates were also treated to a glittering Awards Ceremony held at the Zimbabwe Exhibition Centre. Among those who participated at the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo were prominent National Tourism Boards, Embassies, Airlines, Tourism Destinations, Tour Operators, Travel Agents, Hotels, Car Hire companies, Transport Providers, suppliers of goods and services to the tourism industry, Investors, Government Ministries, Parastatals as well as local and international media persons. Holiday Guide magazine, an affiliate publication of the Africa Business Pages, was part of the international media delegation that attended the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo