12/08/2021
Kaprivi Consultants, the destination marketing agency promoting the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, appoints award-winning British travel journalist in an editorial advisory role and invites businesses to take listings in the forthcoming Transfrontier Business Directory
Kaprivi Consultants is destination marketing agency (DMA) established to promote tourism to southern Africa’s Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA). Stuart Forster, an award-winning travel journalist based in England, has agreed to an honorary advisory role with Kaprivi Consultants.
Kaprivi Consultants has the objectives of raising awareness of the KAZA TFCA and increasing incoming tourism to the vast, biodiverse region where the borders of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe meet.
The travel journalist Stuart Forster
Stuart was named Travel Writer of the Decade at the Netherlands Press Awards of 2020 and Journalist of the Year three times at the awards (2015, 2016 and 2019). In 2017 he was presented with the British Annual Canada Travel Award (BACTA) for Best Online Content for a feature about a close encounter with a polar bear in the Canadian province of Manitoba.
A member of the British Guild of Travel Writers, Stuart’s work has been published by National Geographic Traveller, Wanderlust and national newspapers. He operates the travel blog, Go Eat Do (www.go-eat-do.com), and is a director of Why Eye Photography (www.whyeyephotography.com), a company founded in 2008.
“I hope this will be a step in the KAZA region gaining the international recognition that it so richly deserves. Visiting Victoria Falls first made me aware of the natural beauty and tourism potential of this part of southern Africa. The wildlife, expertise of guides and region’s incredible hospitality and accommodation means it has a lot to offer inbound tourists,” says Stuart.
“I first met Basil Mapfumo, Kaprivi Consultants’ Operations Executive, while on a familiarization tour organized by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority in 2018. His vision of promoting tourism to the KAZA region and energy in Kaprivi Consultants impresses me,” adds the British journalist, photographer and blogger.
The KAZA TFCA
The KAZA TFCA spans an area of 520,000 square kilometres (more than 200,000 square miles). That is larger than the combined landmass of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It includes 36 national parks, game reserves, community conservancies and game management areas.
The region encompasses the Caprivi Strip and Chobe National Park. It is the location of the Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the wetland that is the world’s largest Ramsar Site. It also houses the Victoria Falls, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World). The KAZA TFCA provides habitat to approximately 250,000 elephants. It has the potential to southern Africa’s premier nature- and wildlife-focused tourism destination.
Objectives of Kaprivi Consultants
Kaprivi Consultants are formulating and implementing strategies that will attract international tourism to the region. Key roles include:
Defining target markets for the KAZA TFCA
Identifying customer needs and desires
Matching attractions, activities, tours and marketing efforts to target markets
Devising Key Performance Indexes (KPIs) to monitor progress in the market
“We are here to complement every effort to promote KAZA that’s already on the ground. Our first port of call is acquiring as much knowledge as we can about the destination”, says Basil.
Tourism to the KAZA region has suffered heavily due to the impact of the COVID-19 on global travel. Kaprivi Consultants intend to help boost the recovery by coordinating with regional tourism operators to develop and disseminate a dynamic tourism strategy.
"Our first move is to bring tourism players from the five countries together and get them to interact more," says Basil. " This will help in strategy formulation, which we will do with key stakeholders. In as much as we all have different goals and visions, it is important to be united in a strategy that benefits the destination as a whole. That means meeting the needs of individuals, hotel businesses, tour operators, conservation organizations.”
Transfrontier Business Directory
Kaprivi Consultants is currently in the advanced stage of publishing the first business-to-business directory for the region, it is called the Transfrontier Business Directory. The target is to publish the groundbreaking directory in January 2021. It will be distributed free-of-charge to players in the KAZA TFCA and at select travel trade shows in 2022.
Listing in the directory is open to all tourism, travel, hospitality and conservation businesses operating in the KAZA TFCA. Listing has opened and continues until 1 Deceber 2021.
"We are inviting businesses from Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe to list their services in the directory, so that we get to know each other. Your next business partner is going to come from networking and sharing on various platforms,” comments Basil.
"Remember we have five countries to cover, so we have staggered our marketing drive. We are start with the epicentre of tourism in the region, Victoria Falls. We’ll then move to Kasane, the Okavango Delta, Namibia, Angola and Zambia. We will try and accommodate every business in the directory. Due to time limitations we may not be able to capture everyone, so early registration is essential," says Mr. Khumalo, Kaprivi Consultants’ Marketing Executive.
Listing in the KAZA-All Tourism Business Directory
To find out more about gaining a listing in the directory visit the Best of Kaza website, www.kaprivi-africa.com .Alternatively, follow the links below:
Further information about Kaprivi Consultants
For more information call Basil on +263 718 995 985 or email Basil via [email protected]
Go Eat Do is a UK travel blog by award-winning travel writer Stuart Forster focusing on affordable luxury travel around the world plus delicious food & drinks.
