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CDE KARIKOGA KASEKE

Harare Bureau
OVER 30 international buyers have pulled out of the 2014 Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo that starts today over fears of the Ebola virus, while hotel bookings worth $6 million have been cancelled throughout the country since the deadly virus was detected in some West African countries in March.

This came as tourism operators in Victoria Falls said yesterday they had lost an estimated $1,5 million in potential revenue after Ebola fears forced cancellation of bookings for an insurance conference held in the resort town early this month.

This is despite the fact that no Ebola was detected in Zimbabwe with one suspected case turning out to be malaria.

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief executive Karikoga Kaseke said at a press conference yesterday that the Ebola scare had negatively impacted on the tourism sector as bookings were being cancelled.

He said international visitors for the Sanganai/Hlanganani Expo who cancelled their bookings were demanding their money back, which adversely affected the event.

Kaseke said there would be no need in the future to host the expo if exhibitors were not coming.

He said among the buyers who cancelled their participation, 11 were from Europe, while the others were from Asian countries like China and Malaysia.
Among African countries, only Botswana would not make it due to “technical problems” that have nothing to do with Ebola.

“Ebola has affected the Expo in particular and the tourism industry in general,” said Kaseke. “For Hlanganani, we could have been having 110 buyers by now, but over 30 have cancelled because of Ebola.

“I can mention buyers from Malaysia, buyers from China, the emails are there which confirm their cancellation because of Ebola and because of the stories coming from the media in Zimbabwe.”

The Ebola virus has killed about 4,500 people in West Africa since July, prompting some African countries to bar movement of people from stricken countries to prevent its continued spread.

At least 115 companies have confirmed they will exhibit at Sanganai, taking up 4, 058 square metres of space.

Egypt, Kenya and India will be participating in the Expo for the first time.

In Victoria Falls, the Insurance Congress of Developing Countries, held from September 27 to October 2, was undersubscribed after participants pulled out due to alarm raised by a false Ebola claim that went viral on social media platforms.

Addressing a media briefing on the Zimbabwe Council for Tourism congress to be held next week, ZCT president Francis Ngwenya said a number of business events were cancelled in Victoria Falls following “reckless” media reports about the deadly virus.

He said between 400 and 500 delegates were expected to attend the insurance conference held at Elephant Hills Resort, but about 200 turned up.

“Each time there has been a number of false reports, as Zimbabwe, we have lost some (tourism) business in Victoria Falls,” said Ngwenya.

“There has been one or two (major event) cancellations because of news items or false threats about Ebola in Zimbabwe.”

Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi this week warned people against making reckless and false claims about Ebola as that could debrand the country.

Under the Zim-Asset, Zimbabwe targets to grow tourism into a $5 billion industry and a major driver of economic growth.