2010 World Cup Tour Packages

Southern Africa to Abolish Border Controls

Oct 14, 2008 Lewis Mwanangombe

Countries of Southern Africa will next year introduce a common visa that will enable tourists and sports fans travel easily during the 2010 MTN World Cup.

The 2010 World Cup soccer tournament is being hosted by South Africa and euphoria has already been bolstered by recent pronouncements from World soccer governing body (FIFA) president, Sepp Blatter, that the big tournament will not be taken away from Africa. In the latest visit to South Africa, Blatter assured that he was impressed with work already done but that more publicity should be seen.

Free Entry to SADC

Tied to the common visa is the decision of the six Southern African nations of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe to start a first-ever common-user wildlife conservation area that will help visitors travel easily between countries, on tour packages, and save them the headache of wading through border control restrictions.

It is in this connection that countries of Southern Africa now want to share in the spoils of the fiesta by opening their doors to foreign teams so that they may acclimatize in their towns ahead of the main competition and that is why they are introducing a common visa known as the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Univisa, according to strategic objectives of SADC on its website (www.sadc.int).

Starting next year, in 2009, Southern Africa will have the first ever ‘border free’ tour packages that will enable visitors booked into natural attractions of 14 individual countries of the region have the freedom to travel to other countries without ever producing individual country visas at border control offices.

Amazing Visits to Victoria Falls and Drakensburg

South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique have already started an initiative known as the Limpopo-Zambezi Destination that will position the region as a tourist destination of choice for World Cup visitors and brand the region as a single destination for tour packages.

This means that 2010 MTN World Cup visitors, starting next year will find that their bookings will automatically extend to game sanctuaries of Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Angola and Zimbabwe among others in the region!

Zambia Angola Namibia Botswana Part of Kavango Zambezi

Five countries: Angola, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe have in addition started the Kavango-Zambezi Trans-boundary Conservation Area that has pooled their wildlife estates into a single area sitting on more than 220,000 square kilometers of land and water, with a richly diverse ecosystem teaming with exotic antelopes, dangerous wildcats and colourful birds that will now be linked to world famous Kruger National Park and Drakensberg Resort Area. This is according to information on the webpage of the SADC Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) office.

In the common-user estate lies the attractive Victoria Falls, Mosi-oa-Tunya Park and Kafue National Park in Zambia; Mucusso National Park in Angola; Mahango and Caprivi Game Parks in Namibia; Chobe, Kazuma and Moremi National Parks of Botswana; and Hwange and Zambezi Parks of Zimbabwe.

But to most rural farmers of Southern Africa the plan is being received with apprehension as they see it as a potential source of intensified conflict between themselves and wild animals.

Poaching in Mugabe's Zimbabwe

In Zambia, for example, many see the elephants from Zimbabwe - where Robert Mugabe has mismanaged the national economy and encouraged poachers – as the source of their increased fights with marauding hippos and elephants out to terrorize them.

But authorities in Southern Africa would rather see the economic gains coming than the struggles of fishermen and ordinary villagers with wild animals as they open doors to rich visitors from abroad.

The copyright of the article 2010 World Cup Tour Packages in Sub-Sahara Africa Travel is owned by Lewis Mwanangombe. Permission to republish 2010 World Cup Tour Packages in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Map of some SADC member countries to remove visas