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Nqobile Bhebhe in Masvingo

LAKE Mutirikwi, Zimbabwe’s second largest inland water body, has vast potential of being a major tourist attraction site in the Masvingo Province, a Zimbabwe National Water Authority official has said.

Built-in 1960 and covering about 90 square kilometres, it is only second in size to Tugwi-Mukosi. It is a tourist attraction, there are major hotels in the dam’s immediate environments, such as Lodge at the Ancient City and Great Zimbabwe Hotel, and also benefits from both domestic and foreign visitors.

Key activities at the Kyle Recreational park near the lake include skiing, fishing, boating, yachting and game viewing by boat.

Speaking to journalists who are at a pre-Sanganai-Hlanganani World Tourism Expo tour on Sunday, Mr Tendai Maulana said there is an increase in both domestic and foreign tourists, particularly from South Africa, visiting the dam wall.

“We are witnessing an increase of tourists from religious groups, especially during weekends and public holidays.

“Also tourists from South Africa do visit,” he said.

He added that the dam wall has great potential of pulling more people.

Its main tributaries are Pokoteke, Mutirikwi and Shakashe rivers and for years, the dam has been the lifeblood of cane plantations in the Lowveld.

Besides supplying irrigation water to the Lowveld and Masvingo city, Lake Mutirikwi also provides water for irrigating small-scale irrigation schemes downstream.

The dam is also a major source of fish, with thousands of families sustaining themselves through commercial fisheries business.