Call for more tourism products for Mapungubwe Transfrontier area

Zimbabwe and South Africa.
In an interview during the just ended Tour De Tuli annual biking expedition, which attracted more than 500 tourists from across the globe, ZTA executive director for destination marketing, Mrs Tessa Chikaponya, said there was a strong need to improve on the destination image transformation of the area.
She said it was high time people focused on promoting tourism in the area throughout the year rather than waiting for the annual biking expedition.
“There is a strong need for us to channel more resources in developing new products in the area and shift from the mindset of focusing on the TFCA during the biking event only,” said Chikaponya. 
“We have a lot of potential tourist attraction features such as the dinosaur fossils at sentinel safaris, model irrigation schemes, wildlife and natural resources management and rich cultural heritage in the Maramani communal lands.
“We need to have tourists coming to this area throughout the year. It is also important that we involve the community living around this place in our development plans so that we work as a unit.” 
Ms Chikaponya said the community should derive benefits from the natural resources around them and this can only be achieved by engaging them.
“It is of paramount importance that we continue conscietising the community on the need for effective wildlife and natural resources management,” she said.
Mrs Chikaponya said her organisation was also happy with the level of participation the biking event had attracted.
“Basically among the cyclists we have opinion leaders who will help transform our destination image when they get back to their countries. You will note that for some years we have been rubbished by the country’s detractors as a hostile tourist destination. Events like these and the introduction of more products will help grow publicity and boost tourists’ arrivals” she said.