DAR ES SALAAM, Aug. 19 — The East African Community (EAC) has said preparations for the 2nd EAC Regional Tourism EXPO to be hosted by Burundi from Sept. 23 to Sept. 30, were in full gear, the EAC said in a statement late Wednesday.
The statement issued by the EAC headquarters in Tanzania’s northern city of Arusha said the 2022 tourism expo is expected to attract over 250 exhibitors from over 10 countries, 120 international and regional travel agents and buyers as well as 2,500 trade visitors.
The statement said the main objective of the tourism expo is to promote EAC as a single tourism destination.
The tourism expo was also aimed at providing a platform for tourism service providers’ business-to-business engagements, creating awareness of tourism investment opportunities and addressing challenges affecting the tourism and wildlife sectors in the region, it said.
The theme for the 2022 EXPO is “Rethinking Tourism for Social Economic Development in the East African Community”, it said.
It said the theme resonates with the United Nations World Tourism Day theme that urges tourism destinations and stakeholders around the world to remodel tourism following the devastating impact of COVID-19 in the sector.
Speaking ahead of the tourism expo, Christophe Bazivamo, the EAC deputy secretary general in charge of Productive and Social Sectors, said there are strong signs of tourism recovery in all the EAC member states of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
“We have noted that the tourism business is coming back and we are confident that by 2024 the region will have fully recovered,” said Bazivamo.
Bazivamo encouraged all tourism service providers in the EAC region to take advantage of the expo to showcase their offerings and engage with buyers from the region as well as from around the world. (Xinhua)
Burundi ready to host 2nd East African Regional Tourism Expo
