MKTE 2014 or SITE or both?

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

SITE, seen within some of Tanzania’s tourism circles as an internal rival to the private sector’s Karibu Travel Market Tanzania, a hugely successful regional tourism trade show supported by exhibi

SITE, seen within some of Tanzania’s tourism circles as an internal rival to the private sector’s Karibu Travel Market Tanzania, a hugely successful regional tourism trade show supported by exhibitors and participants from within Tanzania plus the entire region and since the 2014 edition held at a new, larger and smarter venue in Arusha, will kick off in three days at the Milimani Conference Centre in Dar es Salaam. Regular sources, including many Tanzanian tourism firms, who faithfully exhibit and attend the Arusha event, have quietly expressed their misgivings to this correspondent over the new fair, which is promoted by the Tanzanian public sector but notably organized by a South African company. This alone has raised questions why the trade fair organization had to be outsourced and more questions are now asked about the chosen timing, so close to Kenya’s international Magical Kenya Travel Expo.

There have been a number of suggestions that the timing was deliberate to dilute the impact of MKTE, something which of course is hard to verify, but nevertheless hangs over the Dar es Salaam event like a lingering cloud.

Industry pundits in regular contact with this correspondent have also suggested that there is a limit to local tourism exhibitions companies can afford to attend and that rather than fragmentation should the solution be in the pooling of resources and events.

The first of the major tourism shows on a national basis was the Sarit Centre domestic travel exhibition in Nairobi, showcasing low and midseason bargains and deals for Kenyans and expatriates to spend their holiday in the country. Next came the Karibu Fair in Arusha, initially aimed to equally promote domestic travel and then becoming an inclusive showcase event to attract travelers first from the wider region and then add the international component a few years ago. Then came the Magical Kenya Travel Expo, now it its fourth year, born in the aftermath of the 2008 tourism downturn in Kenya and the need to mobilize greater resources to showcase the country’s wide range of tourism attractions, from the shores of the Indian Ocean to the shores of Lake Victoria and dozens of national parks and game reserves in between.

Whether the SITE timing was truly chosen to take a dig at the Nairobi event may never be fully answered but the level of its success will be evident before MKTE 2014 kicks off and the pundits will no doubt be wiser as to the perceived winners and losers of this renewed and added rivalry between the two countries. Watch this space.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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