Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique
25 May, 2004
The Mozambican Tourism Ministry has pre-selected four tourism operators for the Limpopo National Park, in the southern province of Gaza, and soon will decide on the final winner, who should start working before the end of this year, reports Monday's issue of the daily paper "Noticias".
Tourism Minister Fernando Sumbana said that a final report on the selection of the company that will run the park is to be published soon.
He said that launching tourism there will go in parallel with other activities, such as the completion of the necessary master plan and the resettling of peasant farmers who live in the Shinguedzi river basin.
About 2,000 wild animals have been introduced into the park from South Africa, as part of the restocking plan, and more are to be brought in during the winter season.
Sumbana said that his ministry will award the running of the park to the company offering most advantages in technical and financial terms.
"What we are going to do is to work in a clearly identified area, so not to create any pressure, neither on the wild life nor on the local residents", he said.
He added that "the idea is to create routes so that some tourists may start visiting the area and which will earn some money for the undertaking, even before infrastructures are set up. We feel that there is much demand, because many people want to follow up the evolution of the park".
Sumbana explained that these first visitors will draw the attention of the rest of the world to the park's potential.
The money thus collected will be used to develop the park, rendering it sustainable, and will also benefit the local communities.
The main routes will be along the Limpopo and the Elephants rivers, and the main entry will be through the Girionde border post, currently under construction.
The idea is to develop a low density but highly profitable tourism. Sumbana said that the private sector is being invited to play a role in selling the park's image in the country and abroad.
The Limpopo National Park is also Mozambique's contribution to the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park, an undertaking that also includes South Africa's Kruger National Park, and the Gonorezhou park in Zimbabwe. |