TWO TRADE FAIRS – ONE PURPOSE: PROMOTING TOURISM TO TANZANIA
(Posted 16th December 2015)
The year 2015 clearly was a year of many challenges for the tourism sectors in East Africa. Perhaps with the exception of Rwanda, where according to insider information numbers and revenues were, albeit more slowly than in the past, still growing, did the other EAC countries suffer different fortunes. Burundi dropped off the tourism map completely, Kenya for much of the year grappled with falling visitor numbers and even Uganda and Tanzania felt the fallout of not just the Ebola crisis – geographically illiterate global news channels regularly showed maps which put the outbreak areas literally next to East Africa with predictable results of course – but were also affected, whether they liked it or not, by Kenya’s downturn. The respective tourism boards went into overdrive to counter negative publicity, building on the lifting of crippling anti travel advisories and key publications like National Geographic’s and Lonely Planet’s recommendations to visit East Africa. While SITE in Dar es Salaam continues to struggle to establish itself were the Magical Kenya Travel Expo and the Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo successful to draw in a combined threehundred plus hosted buyers, from not just the region but from across the world. Fam trips, organized for the trade and the invited global and regional media, showcased both the top attractions as well as some lesser known ones deserving to be put into the spotlight. The Africa Travel Association’s 40th Congress in Nairobi, after last year’s edition in Kampala and ahead of the 2016 edition in Kigali, also helped a great deal to generate positive publicity in global travel media. This unprecedented ‘triple’ of ATA coming in successive years to Eastern Africa, is clearly a sign that the region continues to have what it takes to be Africa’s greatest safari destination, when putting the four countries together.
And before the year 2015 comes to an end have the organizers of two of Tanzania’s tourism trade shows, Karibu Travel Market Tanzania and KiliFair – named in alphabetical order to avoid any suggestion of favouritism – started to promote their events for next year.
While efforts to meet the organizers of the Karibu Travel Market failed when in Arusha last week, could it nevertheless be established that they will hold their show from the 27th to the 29th of May next year at the Magereza Showground, where this year’s successful tourism trade fair was held. Organized by the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators, in short TATO, has this event been the oldest locally held trade fair in Tanzania dedicated to promoting tourism. Its reputation attracted increasing numbers of regional and international exhibitors, including the Seychelles Tourism Board among several other African countries who now come every year to exhibit and take advantage of more and more buyers coming to Arusha.
Buoyed by their success this year has the KiliFair, which is held in the town of Moshi at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro, also announced their 2016 dates with the fair held from the 03rd to 05th of June. Both Dominic Shoo, the Managing Director of KiliFair and Franzi Missler who looks after sales and their social media campaign, in fact made the effort to meet this correspondent on arrival from Dar es Salaam at the Kilimanjaro International Airport for an hour long meeting, following up on one at the MKTE2015 venue in Diani two months ago. Both went to some lengths to explain that they do not see themselves as direct rivals to the Karibu Travel Market but to add a new component to promoting travel to Tanzania. ‘The timing of our tourism show in fact allows buyers attending Karibu to go for a fam trip and see the national parks between the 30th of May and the 02nd of June and then attend KiliFair in Moshi’ said Dominic, playing down the potential of a turf war by showing the upsides of the two fairs and how visitors now have double opportunities to interact with additional networking partners if staying on for the KiliFair. ‘Ethiopian Airlines is again one of our major sponsors and supporters and so is the Tanzania Tourist Board’ added Franzi before continuing: ‘Tanzania National Parks Authority, Kilimanjaro Airport Development Company, Coastal Aviation, Kibo Palace Hotel, Serengeti Breweries, Coca Cola and many other prominent corporates were very satisfied with their sponsorship of the 2015 event and we expect even more sponsors, among them Fastjet which has come on board for the 2016 edition. This allows KiliFair to provide free airport transfers for international agents and hosted buyers if they arrive on Ethiopian Airlines, free accommodation in hotels in Moshi, shuttle services between these hotels and the show ground and most important fam trips to Kilimanjaro National Park and the parks on the northern safari circuit in conjunction with participating safari operators. Hosted buyers and international agents also have access to our Exhibitor VIP Lounge and free entrance to the trade fair and the workshops which we are organizing again for the travel trade’.
Franzi will be at ITB Berlin 2016 to give the KiliFair one last promotional push when engaging the global tourism trade interested in dealing with Tanzania, after previously making appearances at WTM London in November and MKTE2015 in October in Diani and of course INDABA in Durban. It is understood that KiliFair will also attend WTM Africa in Cape Town to further establish itself as a credible exhibition platform where Tanzanian tourism businesses can meet international buyers. Over 150 exhibitors have already confirmed their attendance for the Moshi event next year.
Dominic and his partner Tom Kunkler in a follow up letter then again highlighted their positive intent ahead of their second KiliFair edition:
The Kilimanjaro Region has got the famous Mt. Kilimanjaro, more than 150 Tour Companies and over 100 hotels hence one of the Top 3 tourist destinations in Tanzania. It is self-explaining that the Kilimanjaro Region was longing for its own fair to promote the powerful region and natural highlights at its best.
Under the motto “Boosting Tanzania Tourism…” KILIFAIR is representing and promoting the Kilimanjaro Region and the Tanzania national parks to East African visitors & to the rest of the world for the second time already. Next to local & international tourism related private companies and sponsors, TTB (Tanzania Tourist Board) and the Ministry of Tourism are fully supportive!
The date is once again well planned, just a week after the well-established Karibu Fair Travel Market in Arusha.
This gives international trade visitors the best opportunity to see a maximum on travel companies from Tanzania mainland, Zanzibar and East Africa within 10 days only. The KILIFAIR Management & appointed partners are offering 10 attractive Fam-Trips in the week between KILIFAIR and Karibu Fair.
Elsewhere in the region are Uganda already planning for the third edition of the Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo, Kenya will soon announce the dates and venue for MKTE2016 and Rwanda is reportedly considering whether to combine their annual gorilla naming festival Kwita Izina with a parallel or follow on tourism expo or else opt for a stand-alone event.
The downturn in tourism fortunes for East Africa in 2015 has certainly not quelled the appetite to promote and showcase what the region has to offer. Perhaps to the contrary have such challenges spurred additional interest among stakeholders to get on the good side of the global travel media and by doing so get greater exposure in the international arena. There, today maybe more than ever before, personal relations and a good network can make all the difference in putting and keeping a destination on the map, or else not of course. Especially in Kenya, which hosted several high profile visitors this year, among them President Obama and Pope Francis and successfully held a number of global conferences in Nairobi – including the ongoing WTO Ministerial Summit – has renewed hope overtaken the poor results of earlier in the year with all eyes looking for a recovery in 2016.
Attending regional tourism trade fairs is now part of a comprehensive promotional strategy, apart from being at the main African events like INDABA, AKWAABA and WTM Africa. The global travel shows like WTM London, ITB Berlin, ITB Asia, TopResa, FITUR and others no longer hold the monopoly when it comes to promoting Africa and that, of all things, is the best which has come out of the growing number of local, national and regional exhibitions.
