Zimbabwe: The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) took the Women’s Cricket team of Zimbabwe to Kuimba Shiri Bird Park on Sunday, Jan 28, 2024. The Lady Chevron team there saw over 400 species of wild birds.
The bird sanctuary includes wild birds such as African Eagles, the Marshall, Black, Crowned and Fish Eagles. The other birds that can be found there are Barn Owls, African Goshawks Peregrine Falcons and many others.
The Tourism Authority of Zimbabwe is engaging sports associations and tourism players to promote sport tourism in Zimbabwe.
To develop a sports tourism program, ZTA has increased its efforts and is focusing more on sports events held in the country.
Currently, the ZTA is hosting the ongoing cricket series at Harare Sports Club. The country has also hosted an Afro-Basket basketball pre-qualifiers match between Zambia and Madagascar.
Head of Corporate Affairs of Zimbabwe Tourism Authority – Godfrey Koti said in his previous statement that Sports tourism is a fast-growing sector of the global travel industry which equates to $7.68 billion.
Head Koti mentioned that the global travel industry has no small feat and they are doing all they can to garner all the numbers they can get.
He added that ZTA plans to partner with domestic sports teams to promote sports tourism. Koti added to his statement, “Sports tourism, to its full potential can be a catalyst, for the development of infrastructure such as stadiums, hotels, transportation networks, roads and telecommunications.”
Kuimba Shiri is situated at the shores of Lake Chivero, in a Recreational Park where more than 400 species of wild birds, live.
Kuimba Shiri is a word from the Shona language that means ‘singing birds’. The bird sanctuary was founded by conversationist and falconer Gary Stafford in 1994.
Stafford added the largest collection of indigenous birds in Africa by 2002. In the same year, over 1000 birds were moved to South Africa for their safety due to the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe.
The Stafford family faced many challenges but survived. In 2010, the family re-started the renovation at Kuimba Shiri.
Notably, a number of birds were featured in BBC Documentaries titled ‘The Life of Birds’ and ‘Eagles’ by famous British biologist and author – David Attenborough.