adminThupeyo Muleya in BEITBRIDGE
THREE hundred and forty people took part in this year’s edition of Tour de Tuli tourism expedition in the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area. The Mega Park is located on the western part of Beitbridge. It comprises the Northern Tuli Game Reserve (Botswana), Tuli National Park and Maramani Communal lands (Zimbabwe) and the Mapungubwe National Park (South Africa).
The expedition involves mountain bike tours and seeks to market the GMTFCA as one of the best tourist resorts in the Sadc region.
The participants were drawn from countries like the United States of America, Britain, Canada, Germany, Angola, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Botswana, Portugal and Greece.
Tour director, Nicola Harris, said they had received over 500 applications from various people who were interested in taking part in the Tour.
“We had about 500 hundred who were interested in taking part in this tourism expedition but we can only accommodate 350 and 150 support staff.
“Ten more participants withdrew at the eleventh hour due to medical reasons.
“The group entered Botswana on 13 August from South Africa through Pondrift border post and arrived in Zimbabwe on Saturday morning.
“They will leave for South Africa tomorrow (today)”.
She said they were looking at raising R1.5 million from the expedition which will be channeled towards charities in the participating countries.
Each participant paid R23 500.
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority head of Domestic Marketing and Destination Division, Anna Moyo, said the Tour was a great opportunity to market the country.
“This is a great opportunity for us to market Zimbabwe, a world of wonders as a destination of choice,” said Moyo.
“We are also looking at promoting regional integration through tourism.
“We are very hopeful that events like these will go a long way in improving tourists’ arrivals considering that most of the cyclists are opinion leaders.
“You will also note that some of them are participants at the Tour De France.
“We are worried at the low participation of Zimbabweans (both cyclists and companies) in Tour de Tuli.
“It is very important that we grab this opportunity with both hands and give the expedition the recognition it deserves.”
Online Reporter