Zimbabwe is one of the 165 countries marketing themselves as a hot tourist destination at the Spanish International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR) in Madrid from January 22-26.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Munesu Munodawafa, will lead the delegation, which includes the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, The African Experiences and other tourism industry players.

ZTA Acting CEO, Givemore Chidzidzi, said FITUR was a great opportunity to increase the visibility of the destination. "With this networking and intense exposure, Zimbabwe will leverage off this platform to reassure the market and further position Zimbabwe as a destination of choice.

"Furthermore, with the strategic position of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation in Madrid, policy-makers within this body will meet to deliberate on global tourism issues under the auspices of FITUR," he added.

Chidzidzi said Zimbabwe was on a mission to attract more of the Spanish market, which has shown positive growth over the years. "This is one of Zimbabwe’s emerging markets. In 2018 we recorded 13 528 arrivals from that part of the world. This was a significant 8% increase from the preceding year, which recorded 12 583 arrivals."

Zimbabwe is set to increase destination awareness, and resuscitate and forge new partnerships with tour operators. Chidzidi said ZTA was proud of Zimbabwe making it to Bloomberg’s 24 Best Travel Destinations for 2020. “The renewed confidence in Zimbabwe is clearly reflected in these nominations and we are hopeful that this will drive traffic into the destination."

FITUR is the global meeting point for the world’s tourism professionals and is the leading trade fair for inbound and outbound markets in Europe. It will have more than 10 000 exhibitors this year.