Zanzibar — ZANZIBAR: THE Zanzibar Commission for Tourism (ZCT) is hosting the first International 'Zanzibar Tourism Investment & Travel Exhibition (ZTITE),' themed 'Greener Zanzibar'.
ZCT Executive Director Ms Hafsa Mbamba said that her office is working in partnership with Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority (ZIPA) and the Department of Museum & Antiquity of the Ministry of Tourism & Heritage to organise ZTITE.
She explained that the purpose is to bring tourism professionals & stakeholders, tourism investors, conservationists and like-minded stakeholders from both public and private sectors in a conducive environment to trade and discuss sustainable tourism practices, and current movements and share knowledge.
"The ZTITE-2024 will serve as a platform to showcase the expected sustainable tourism vision of the Zanzibar tourism sector and investment climate along with business networking opportunities and solutions to existing challenges in the tourism ecosystem," Ms Hafsa said.
She said that ZTITE starts on February 17 to 20th next year and that it aligns with the "Zanzibar Declaration on Sustainable Tourism," an informal statement of intent and a rallying cry for the Zanzibar tourism industry to take real strides towards sustainability, in support of people, planet and prosperity.
Hafsa said, "The Zanzibar Declaration recognises and contributes to global sustainable tourism actions adopted by international institutions and world leaders; this includes the One Planet Network Glasgow Declaration: Climate Action in Tourism with which this declaration is aligned, and many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals."
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The executive directors pointed out that the summit next year also aims to promote investment in sustainable tourism projects in Zanzibar and comply with the global sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which emphasises the protection and sustainable management of 30 per cent of the land and sea in the world by 2030.
She noted that the meeting is an important step towards achieving and implementing the vision 2050 in the tourism sector, which is based on ensuring that the Tourism Commission coordinates and manages to ensure that Zanzibar Tourism is sustainable and environmentally protected.
The ZCT executive director mentioned key topics for discussion at the summit as 'sustainable food and waste management in the tourism sector'; 'biodiversity and environment protection'; 'cultural protection and promotion'; and 'reducing use of fossil fuels in tourism.'
"We selected these topics because, internationally, tourism seems to contribute a lot to pollution, loss of biodiversity and changes in the environment due to emission of greenhouse gases," she said.
She said that in 2019, tourism was rated to be the second fastest-growing sector in the world accounting for an average of eight per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Ms Hafsa said Zanzibar is doing what it can to promote tourism as its leading economic sector contributing 30 percent to GDP and more than 35,000 people directly employed in the industry.
