Zimbabwe Earns 1 Million Dollars From Solar EclipseMajor and little known tourist resorts in north of the country, were teeming with foreign solar eclipse enthusiasts, most of whom stayed on to visit other attractions, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority said on Monday.Some tourist facilities were fully booked two weeks before the eclipse, rekindling hopes of a major turnaround in the flagging fortune of the tourism sector. The boom in business comes despite the incessant anti-Zimbabwe campaign by some sections of the international media protesting against Zimbabwe's land reforms. Although the Department of National Parks and Wild Life Management is still compiling the relevant figures, an official said the department had made a "fortune" from the eclipse spectacle. At Mana Pools, over 1,000 vehicles, mainly from South Africa, Zambia and Botswana, had passed through the gates with each passenger paying 15 U.S.dollars. Some 30 aircraft were used to pick and drop tourists from various points in the Zambezi Valley. Some holiday-makers were forced to camp on hotel grounds as accommodation ran out. |
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