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
Click
on page above for printable full size pdf version of this 2
page spread. . 
