AT least 15 buyers from Botswana have withdrawn from next month’s tourism expo due to reckless statements on the Ebola disease, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief executive officer Karikoga Kaseke said yesterday.
TARISAI MANDIZHA BUSINESS REPORTER
Last month, the government said it had no capacity to conduct tests to detect the deadly Ebola disease with officials in the Health and Child Care ministry saying specimens from suspected cases would be referred to South African laboratories for verification.
Speaking at the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo breakfast meeting in Harare, Kaseke said Zimbabwe was expecting between 150 to 200 buyers to come for the expo, but a number of tourists have since cancelled because of some reckless statements being issued on Ebola.
The first edition of the repositioned Sanganai/Hlanganani will be held from October 16 to 18 2014 at the Harare International Conference Centre.
“Botswana has withdrawn including the Botswana Tourism Board because of Ebola issues.
“There is an article saying Zimbabwe is not serious about Ebola. I don’t blame them, I blame us,” Kaseke said.
“Fifteen buyers have withdrawn saying they heard that Zimbabwe is not serious about Ebola. So I think, this is just a reckless statement from those issuing them not knowing what they are causing to the industry.”
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He said a number of tourists had cancelled bookings.
Kaseke said the country will have close to 100 buyers coming for the Sanganai/Hlanganani-World Tourism Expo for 2014.
He said Zimbabwe was more than serious as compared to any other countries in the region as far as Ebola was concerned.
Ebola has wreaked havoc in West Africa with Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia the most affected countries.
As of September 10, the World Health Organisation and the centre for disease control reported a total of 4 846 suspected cases and 2 375 deaths (2 898 cases and 1 386 deaths being laboratory confirmed).
Experts say the official numbers substantially understate the size of the outbreak because of families’ widespread reluctance to report cases.
Tourism stakeholders, however, suggested that there was need for the ministry to meet with the Botswana delegation to persuade them to reconsider their position.
They said stakeholders said the Health and Child Care ministry should call for an urgent press briefing on Zimbabwe’s state of preparedness on Ebola.
Kaseke said buyers who have confirmed participation were from Dubai, China, Japan, and South Korea. Buyers from United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, and the United States were yet to confirm participation.
In the regions buyers from South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia have confirmed participation, Kaseke added.
