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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE upcoming Victoria Falls Sports Tourism festival featuring five disciplines received a major boost after the coming on board of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA).

ZTA believes that by partnering with organisers of the three-day event from September 24-26, it will help step up its domestic tourism marketing efforts.

“We were approached by Sports Inc to partner them in this initiative and we were immediately impressed. We saw an opportunity to market the destination using sport. The festival will help us propel the domestic tourism drive that is currently underway, ZimBho campaign,” said ZTA head of corporate affairs Godfrey Koti.

Koti said Sports Tourism is now a big product around the globe and there is a massive opportunity for collaboration with sport to further reach critical masses, and such initiatives will allow ZTA to position Zimbabwe as a must visit destination for both local and international tourists.

The objective of the festival is to promote sports tourism, market destination Zimbabwe and create sustainable development for marginalised communities in resort towns.

“Our aim with developing the sports tourism experience is to help revive domestic tourism, and support the continued collaborative efforts of the Government and private sector to spur the recovery of tourism.

“We have been fortunate to collaborate with a diverse array of partners and sponsors to make this happen because we are all focused on the same goal: enhancing domestic tourism and supporting the recovery efforts” said Malvin Kanjere, public relations and marketing director of Ecotourism Africa and Sports Tourism Inc.

Before the advent of Covid-19, sports tourism was becoming one of the fastest growing sectors in the global travel industry.