Bikers Promote Cross Border Tourism
Spira Tlhankane | Monday May 21, 2018 14:17
Botswana Tourism Organisation hosted the bikers from SADC Countries at Fairview Gardens over the weekend. The bikers were arriving from Kasane where they have been riding to create an environment for members to enjoy biking whilst contributing meaningfully to the communities, and promotion of cross border tourism. In an interview with Sport Monitor, club spokesperson Ernest Mokganedi said they decided to partner with the stakeholders of KAZA TFCA to market the KAZA TFCA through the TLB tour of five countries; Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The KAZA TFCA is an enormous area that lies in the Kavango and Zambezi river basins where Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe converge.
“We started in Pretoria, then Botswana and proceeded to Namibia. The tour continued to Angola and then went back to Namibia. We visited Kasane and from there we went to Zambia before we finally went to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe,” he said.
He said during the tour they exposed the bikers to tourist attractions in the SADC region. Mokganedi added that the bikers loved the whole experience.
He said they wanted to generate income for places where they stay during the tour.
Mokganedi said the club completed the three successful tours to Botswana and the tour of Swaziland via Mozambique in 2017. He said it was the first time they visited five countries in a single tour.
Mokganedi said Botswana has been welcoming and the people appreciate biking. He however said he was disappointed in some of the drivers on road. “They are horrible to the bikers,” he said. He added that they have a strategic partnership with the Three Chiefs biking club in Botswana.
The president of Three Chiefs, Tebogo Mokobi said even though they were not part of the tour they have been working with TLB.
“We didn't have our bikers in the tour this time around, but in the future we would participate,” she said.
Mokobi said the tour beautiful setup and it is opportunity to venture into biking. “Biking is a growing sport in Botswana, people like it,” she said. However, she emphasised that biking is not a cheap sport.