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Victoria Falls Reporter
THE annual Victoria Falls Marathon is contributing to the growth of tourism in the resort with hotel recording up to 70 percent occupancy in the run-up to the event, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) chief operations officer Mr Givemore Chidzidzi said. In an interview on the sidelines of the annual Victoria Falls marathon on Sunday, Chidzidzi said the marathon was a good event to market the country as a destination of choice.
“Hotel occupancy was at 70percent in the days leading to the marathon. We had athletes from all over the world in Victoria Falls and that is a good marketing platform for the country. It was good for the tourism sector since these athletes booked for accommodation and other activities thereby bringing business to the stakeholders,” he said.
Mr Chidzidzi said they had been impressed by the presence of athletes from traditional and new international markets such as United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Jamaica, France, Germany, New Zealand and Australia.
“These are major tourism markets in terms of marketing the destination. There were 637 athletes who took part in the marathon from 28 countries making it a truly international marathon. Regionally we had athletes from South African, Botswana and Zambia which is very impressing,” he said.
“So we want to work together with the organisers of the marathon so that we derive more benefits from the event.”
He said as the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) general assembly approached, there had also been an upsurge in arrivals as tourists are moving forward their trips to the country.
The general assembly will be held next month from the 24 to 29th and thousands of delegates are expected to attend.
Online Reporter