Humpata - The 1st edition of the Angola International Climbing Festival, which ended Sunday (August 25), brought with it a set of business opportunities to be developed at Miradouro da Serra da Leba, as well as the need to better preserve the area.
According to the Head of the Executive Council of the Association of Tourism Promoters and Operators (HOTOUR), João Lopes, there is a set of businesses that can be developed there, such as the issue of the handicrafts market, the possibility of setting a toll, among others.
João Lopes also referred to the need for more support for the use of Serra da Leba as a tourist attraction in its entirety, highlighting the importance of establishing a public-private partnership for this purpose.
He also defended the need to create campsites so that there are conditions to receive tourists next year, without having to adapt structures for this.
For the next editions, he defended the creation, by the authorities, of a bus route during the week of the festival, as operators cannot do so as it would be too costly, given the current situation.
He said that, during the event, a cleaning process took place in Serra da Leba, integrating the issue of the environment in the preservation of the entire ecosystem, where climbers removed two tons of rubbish, left by people visiting the place, which shows the need to preserve the zone.
For this reason, he also defended the need for greater population engagement in preserving the public asset.
“There is a whole set of situations that we have to work on in the next edition of the event”, he argued.
Another bad aspect, according to João Lopes, was linked to the issue of air transport, with several problems occurring, because the majority of foreign participants came via Namibia and were expecting the opening of Windhoek/Lubango flights, where There was no room and they had to take the bus alternative.
“It is essential to know that in land transport, traffic jam time is a disadvantageous factor, because they want to make the most of their time, they could spend more time here, but they will spend two days less”, he highlighted.
In turn, the deputy-coordinator of Climb Angola, David Wells, highlighted that the professionals and amateurs of the aforementioned extreme sport were amazed and willing to promote the place with photographs and other knowledge so that, next year, they will double or triple the number of current participants.
He highlighted that they were faced with a lack of water and electricity connection in the place where they camped, situations that must be improved to accommodate more people.
Despite not having completed the opening of the 100 roads planned for the 9 days of the event, 67 were completed, making 97, with the previous 30 already existing. During the period, 20 new climbers were also trained.
The CNN channel was present at the event providing full daily coverage.
The 1st Angola International Climbing Festival, promoted by Climb Angola with the collaboration of HOTOUR, featured 40 climbers from 18 countries, including Angola, and during the 9 days, among other activities, slacklining, a bolting workshop, development of routes, climbing classes, search and rescue workshops for the police, firefighters and technicians from the National Institute of Medical Emergencies of Angola. EM/SC/CF/DOJ
