Zimbabwe’s annual Sanganai/Hlanganani expo may be cancelled, while the Zimbabwe Tourism Association may be forced to scale back its destination marketing efforts.

ZTA Spokesperson, Sugar Chagonda, said the Expo, slated for June, might not be held this year because $1 million was required for tourism promotion programmes, including the Harare International Carnival, which was not held last year.

Chagonda revealed that the ZTA still owed suppliers in Bulawayo $147 000 from last year's expo.

“If we do not get funding, definitely there won’t be any Sanganai/Hlanganani this year. Failure to get resources is a threat to the event and our first priority as a tourism board is to service our debt to suppliers before planning a new event,” he said.

The money allocated to the ZTA by the Zimbabwean government specifically for destination promotional programmes amounts to $400 000.

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Water, Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, has urged Treasury to allocate more funds to the tourism ministry and the ZTA. According to the committee, last year the government funded five travel shows, but this year there is funding to attend only three.

 In addition, the Ministry of Tourism will not be able to implement any community-based enterprise projects or attend regional workshops. The nation-branding allocation will only fund research for three of the 10 provinces.

According to reports, Zimbabwe’s source market, arrivals from Europe, declined by 9%, while arrivals from Africa fell by 3%.