Back from the Zulu Kingdom
I returned last week from Zulu Kingdom. Zulu refers to both the people and language of South Africa. While I did spend the majority of my time at the Durban Conference Center representing Karibu Fair at Indaba, a massive International tourism marketing event for all of Africa, I also managed to get a pulse on the city. I (and my co-workers) enjoyed cruising the paved roads, emailing at high speed, shopping in markets with full shelves, and dancing to amazing music.
At Indaba, we shared exhibiting space with the Tanzanian Tourist Board and were surrounded by a number of additional Tanzanian exhibitors. Our time was well spent circulating to spread the word on Karibu Fair and we welcomed mostly positive feedback from those already familiar with our trade fair. While it’s always good to receive positive support, we also listened carefully to some valuable critique that we can use to make improvements or adjustments as early as this year. Indaba is an extremely well organized and expertly orchestrated event; therefore, we spent much time observing and taking note of operational logistics, so that we may leverage their expertise in raising the level of professionalism at the Karibu Fair.
Now back in Arusha, we are in the home stretch of preparations. This morning we held 30 brief interviews, and have as many more to go, in order to secure reliable workers for the four day event (June 5-8). We are scrambling to finalize printed materials, VIP party plans, PR, and organize all the temporary workers. There is already much buzz locally surrounding the event, and after more than two months on assignment here, I can’t wait to see it firsthand.