Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) on Wednesday said it will send a high-level delegation of local tour operators and hoteliers to the China International Travel Mart (CITM) slated for Shanghai next month.

 

ZTA Marketing and Communications Director Givemore Chidzidzi said the local contingent would hold workshops and business meetings with tour operators in Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jinan in order to establish areas of cooperation.

 

Eleven companies have confirmed their participation at this year's China expo, Chidzidzi said, adding "we will go to Beijing where we will hold meetings with tour operators and travel agencies. After that we will attend a workshop in Zhejiang."

 

He said they also expect to meet with the tourism authority in Zhejiang, a province in eastern China, to discuss various areas of cooperation. From there, they will move to Jinan, the capital city of Shandong Province in northern China.

 

The travel fair will also give ZTA the opportunity to conclude on some of the finer details of the memorandum of understanding it reached with the China International Travel Services (CITS) and other players in the vast Asian country, he said.

 

Zimbabwe and China have enjoyed cordial relations in the area of tourism that saw the latter resisting international pressure and endorsing the former with the Approved Tourist Destination status at a time when Zimbabwe was reeling under immense pressure from the west following the land redistribution exercise.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2006)