Arusha
- Art, Design and Fashion
by Muguette
Goufrani
East Africa'sIndabaWhile East
Africa's popular Karibu Fair celebrates its 10th
Anniversary June 4-7, 2009, the most recent
version could not have been held at a more
opportune time - on the heels of two major
events that brought the world to Arusha. We
arrived on the scene in mid May to cover the
Africa Travel Association's 33rd World Congress,
with its focus on Marketing Africa Tourism
Karibu means WelcomeFollowing the ATA Congress
and Leon H. Sullivan Summit, we scored a "triple
whammy," by covering the Karibu Fair for three
exciting days. Karibu is Swahili for "welcome"
and the Karibu Fair has become a powerful magnet
of travel, trade and tourism, attracting
visitors from near and far. Among the several
hundred exhibitors are entries from the entire
East Africa region, plus Southern Africa and
Europe, almost all of whom are connected to the
safari industry. The fair operates in close
association with our friends at the Tanzania
Tourist Board and the Tanzania Association of
Tour Operators. Having completed its ninth
successful show, Karibu is one of only two such
events held in Africa, the other being Indaba in
Durban, South Africa. Now recognized as the
major travel trade event in all of East Africa,
Karibu has expanded from a local show to
regional status, with ample room to grow, once
media like ours spread the good word.
Fly-In or Drive to
Karibu
The travel agents and tour
operators we met or were reacquainted with
during our stay, feel very much at home during
the Karibu weekend. They can network and conduct
business and in an ideal atmosphere, away from
the hustle, bustle and gridlock of city traffic.
Another contributing factor we like about the
Karibu Fair is its location at the Arusha
Airport. Being active in publishing Air Highways
Magazine and staging Air and Marine Travel Shows
in Canada since the early 90s, it was a joy to
watch a variety of small craft coming and going
overhead adding spice to the action. On hand
were several familiar names and faces from our
visit to Arusha in 1998, including Bobby's Tours
of Arusha. Bobby not only drove us to the event,
we joined him for lunch at Peppis with two
Russian tour operators who specialize in
safaris. Our ATA colleagues Peter Mwenguo, CEO
and Amant Macha, Marketing Director of the
Tanzania Tourism Board made sure we were
introduced to the right people. The Zanzibar
Association of Tourism Investors (ZATI) gave us
a fond Karibu farewell by inviting us to a
hospitality hour in their large Zanzibar
section.
Solid FoundationBased on the
theme "Get Connected," the Karibu Fair's goals
are as follows: Raise the show's regional
profile by promoting East African tourism to the
global marketplace; Produce the premiere travel
and tourism trade fair in East Africa; Bring all
key industry stakeholders in East Africa
together in one place, at one time; Create
opportunities for international visitors and
overseas tour agents to meet and network with
members of the East African tourism industry;
Bring new destinations, facilities and products
to the attention of overseas tour agents;
Facilitate opportunities for overseas tour
agents to visit the national parks and
properties; Generate direct spending in the
local economy, including hotels, restaurants,
transportation and parks; Create employment,
directly and indirectly. by assisting
development of small and medium enterprises;
Build alliances with neighboring East African
countries and key tourism stakeholders, through
combined efforts to promote regional
tourism.
What's Next for
Karibu?
Karibu Fair provides a venue
for local and regional tourism products and
services. You will not experience it all in a
few short hours. We spent most of an entire day
- and returned TWICE for an encore. Among the
exhibitors are tourist boards, camping and
safari companies, tour operators, air and land
transport providers, mountain climbing
outfitters, wildlife lodges , hotels, camping
and equipment manufacturers. We at Africa Travel
Magazine are impressed with the Karibu Fair and
will give it global coverage through our award
winning website and our magazine, which is
distributed in North America, Africa and around
the world.
For more information, visit
www.africa-ata.org/bulletins.htm or visit the
Karibu Fair website -
www.karibufair.com
...
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on page above for printable full size pdf version of this 2
page spread. . 