Liberty Dube in BULAWAYO
FOR the first time ever, since the inception of the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Expo 16 years ago, all 10 local authorities in Manicaland have joined hands to become one entity, in a move set to effectively market tourism assets endowed in the province as one package.
Manicaland Province is subdivided into seven rural districts and three urban councils which are jointly marketing what they offer under one roof at this year’s Sanganai/Hlanganani World Expo currently underway at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair arena in Bulawayo.
The local authorities include Mutare City Council, Rusape Town Council, Chipinge Town Council, Makoni Rural District Council, Nyanga Rural District Council, Buhera Rural District Council, Mutasa Rural District Council, Chimanimani Rural District Council, Mutare Rural District Council and Chipinge Rural District Council.
In an interview on Wednesday, a day before the expo went into full swing, Director for Economic Development in the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution, who is leading the Manicaland team, Mr Munyaradzi Rubaya said by combining forces, and exhibiting as one package, they will gain more traction in collectively marketing products and services endowed in the province, while saving costs.
“We are excited that for the first time, Manicaland’s local authorities are participating under the banner of Manicaland Province. This is our first exhibition where we have combined all the local authorities to participate under one roof. We want to ensure that we operate as a province in all future exhibitions, expos and trade missions.
“We used to participate as individual local authorities, but we realised that we do not gain much traction if we are not a united front. The idea is not to market an individual local authority, but all local authorities, because together we can learn and benefit from others through various synergies that the platform Sanganai/Hlanganani proffers. We are excited that all is in place to make the province known regionally and globally, especially the tourism assets that it possesses,” said Dr Rubaya.
This year all Manicaland local authorities are exhibiting under one roof. − Pictures: Liberty Dube
He added: “It is critical that we market Manicaland Province as a unit because it is cheaper to purchase the stand, and it reduces the cost of designing the stand and other overtures. At least visitors will be meeting all the 10 local authorities at one stand. The other advantage is that we can now market Manicaland as a whole package, and not in different parts which means that every corner of the province will be marketed. This is really an ideal platform for us.”
He added that the platform is ideal, convenient and perfect for them to educate, and let people know about the mystique tourism sites that different districts have in store.
Nyanga boasts of an exciting tourism package such as Nyanga Mountain, Nyangombe Falls, World’s View, Mutarazi Falls, Gairezi River as well as Nyanga National Parks – which is home to wild animals such as wildebeest, impala, eland, waterbuck, scrub hare, common duiker, stable antelope and zebra.
Mutare and Vumba, which form part of the Eastern Highlands have tourism assets such as Leopard Rock Game Park, Vumba Botanical Gardens, Hivu Scenic Drives, George’s View Point, Prince of Wales View Point, Zonwe Mountain as well as Chinyakwaremba Mountain, among others.
Buhera is a citadel of historic monuments such as Matendera and Dzapasi, while Chipinge and Chimanimani have Chirinda Falls and Chimanimani Mountains respectively.
Added Mr Rubaya: “This is a tourism event, and it is all about marketing our comparative advantages from other destinations and other provinces. Secondly, we will be marketing tourism assets, that is why we think Manicaland is the best province to visit. It is endowed with a lot of attractive and picturesque places. In terms of our diverse and mystique places, we know we are one of the best, and that is one of the many reasons why we are here.
“So far, it has been a beautiful experience, and we are looking forward to build synergies, and present our tourism package to the visitors. We are also marketing the potential tourism investments that can take place in the province, for example, we have Osborne, Marovanyati, Ruti, Odzani, Smallbridge and Muchekeranwa dams among others. We are working on masterplans on those dams, and there are tourism facilities that we intend to build there.
“As a province, we believe we can attract premium conferences, but what we do not have are facilities to accommodate the visitors. We need larger facilities to hold hundreds of people. There is need to construct a Manicaland Conference Centre, and we know we can do better than the other hosts with bigger facilities in the country.”
