RALLYING THE LOCALS TO WATCH A RALLY – DOMESTIC TOURISM HAS MANY FACES
(Posted 10th September 2014)
Last weekend did over a thousand spectators from Burundi’s capital city of Bujumbura come to the town of Gitega, where, supported by the Burundi Tourism Board and local sponsers a major motor sport event took place, the ‘Rallye de Gitega’. Proud of getting that many people to come and line the rally route, did Carmen Nibigira, CEO of the Burundi Tourism Board write the following report:
‘Last weekend another rally took place in Burundi with the objective of boosting domestic tourism and bringing Burundians to discover their country through events. The Second Vice President himself was there to launch the event in the second city of Burundi, Gitega. Himself originally from Gitega and an investor in the tourism industry with a hotel in Gitega, he encourages and supports the tourism sector.
This is the third rally in Burundi in a matter of less than a year as Burundi after an absence of nearly two decades wanted to launch such event and be on the regional and international calendar of rallying.
The event was an occasion for people from Bujumbura to get out of town for a weekend and enjoy what Gitega as a city can offer. More than 1000 people were in Gitega for the event and the local community enjoyed the show.
This is a big event for the national tourism office as these types of events boost the local economy, hotels are fully booked, bars and restaurants all welcoming guests. The organisers Black and White Events as well as the Club Automobile Du Burundi and key sponsors this event last Saturday was a success and more to come.
7 cars from Burundi including 3 cars from Rwanda were participants at this Gitega Rally, with visitors from Rwanda.
From Jazz, picnic, film festival, fashion show, Happy People on the shore of the lake, cycling, marathon to rally Burundi is seeing an increase in events and domestic tourism is been boosted. The National Tourism Office believes in developing partnerships with the private sector in boosting domestic tourism, it is with the private sector that the tourism industry is being revived’.
Burundi, emerging from a long slumber, seems well on the way to establish herself as an upcoming tourism destination and clearly, like with the recent Bujumbura Marathon, leaves no opportunity to go to waste to also promote domestic travel.
Meanwhile is the KCB Safari Rally coming up on the weekend in Kenya, which once upon a time was a Rally World Championship event but now counts only towards the African and of course national rally championship. Scrutineering for local participants will in fact commence this morning and foreign entries’ cars will be scrutinized by the stewards on Thursday before the rally kicks off with the ceremonial start in Kiambu on Friday the 12th.
Notably will the first leg lead the contestants to Nanyuki, a major tourism town in central Kenya before the rally will do the second leg in a wide circle around the town before ending on Sunday.
Kenya’s Tourism Board and of course a very large fraternity of rally fans will use this opportunity to promote their own brand of domestic travel, aptly named #TembeaKenya in a widely publicized Twitter hash tag campaign and lodging in and around Nanyuki will this weekend no doubt be full to the brim with many having to resort to sleeping in their own tents.
A range of sporting events of often very different nature, together with cultural and historical events like the recent commemoration of the outbreak of the First World War in the Taita Taveta region of Kenya has very much become a mainstay activity for Kenya’s tourism industry with local travel trying to make up for the relative slack of foreign arrivals. Those keen to find out more about such events may subscribe to Kenya Buzz via www.kenyabuzz.com or read The Eye Rwanda and Burundi www.theeye.co.rw which comes out on a quarterly basis and gives a broad overview of what is happening there. For visitors from abroad, they can be sure that there is always some sporting action going on across Eastern Africa and the local spectators are more than happy to extend a warm welcome to the ‘Wagenis’ – a Kiswahili word for foreign travelers – who take the trouble to make their way to events and cheer on the participants.
