The event, organised by Routes Africa and taking place between June 22 and 24, will be held in the resort town of Victoria Falls as the organisation’s ninth edition.
Routes Africa, in a statement, said the summit would bring together leading airports, airlines, tourism authorities, policymakers and aviation stakeholders “to develop new air services to, from and within Africa”.
Routes was set up in 1995 as an airline consultancy with airport route development as its main focus. It organises airline and airport networking events through its regional and global route development platforms.
“Over 350 delegates are expected to attend the event representing 40 leading airlines, 50 airports and 15 tourism authorities,” said Routes Africa in the statement.
Established world airlines, among them South African Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Emirates, Etihad Airways, British Airways, Iberia Airlines and Condor Airlines will feature at the event as they seek to expand their operations in Africa.
Routes has also received confirmation of participation from low cost carriers such as Fastjet, Comair, Fly540 and FlyAfrica.com.
Vice President Joice Mujuru will give welcome remarks at the event that is also set to be attended by Tourism Minister, Walter Mzembi, Sao Tome and Principe’s Transport Minister, Fernando Maquengo and a host of high profile dignitaries.
The summit comes immediately after Zimbabwe received the World Best Tourism Destination and the Favourite Cultural Destination for 2014 award from the European Council on Tourism and Trade.
Karikoga Kaseke, the Chief Executive Officer of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), expressed joy at hosting the event.
“We are extremely happy that this strategic conference has come to Zimbabwe, at a time when the issue of the accessibility of regional destinations is topical,” said Kaseke.
Post published in: News
This is good for Zimbabwe now that we are pushing domestic tourism, Proud to be Zimbabwean.