Club extends links with tourism partner.
Sunderland AFC continues to
strengthen its links with the African continent, following the signing
of a new partnership, which sees the country of Tanzania become the
‘Official Tourism Partner’ of the club.
Tourism is a key factor in the upward
growth of the Tanzanian economy and the partnership aims to use the
global reach of the Barclays Premier League to promote the country as a
premier tourist destination. Premier League football is watched in over
200 countries, with accumulative audience of a phenomenal 4.2 billion,
making it the most watched sporting league in the world.
Located in Central East Africa with about
1,400km of coastline along the Indian Ocean, Tanzania is renowned for
some of the most stunning natural wonders of the world, including the
Serengeti-where the spectacular, Mount Kilimanjaro - the highest
free-standing mountain in the world - and Ngorongoro Crater, a UNESCO
World Heritage Site.
SAFC has already developed close links
with Tanzania, through providing technical and practical support to the
development of the football academy project, the first of its kind in
the country. The project will see thousands of youngsters benefit from a
joined up approach combining football, education and community
engagement, harnessing the knowledge and expertise of Sunderland AFC and
its own successful Academy.
SAFC commercial director, Gary Hutchinson,
said: “We are delighted to further strengthen our links with Tanzania
with this exciting new tourism partnership.
“We are very much looking forward to
working with our partners in Tanzania to promote their beautiful country
to a wider audience and to continue to support the development of its
football infrastructure.”
Ambassador Charles A, Sanga, chairman,
Tanzania Tourist Board, board of directors: “Tanzania Tourist Board is
proud to be associated with Sunderland AFC. We believe that this
partnership will not only enhance the Board’s efforts in promoting
Tanzania to the world but also help to attract investments and develop
sports tourism in Tanzania “.
SAFC has established itself as one of the
most recognised English clubs across Africa in recent seasons. SAFC
linked-up with Invest in Africa in January 2012, affording a springboard
to the ground-breaking not-for-profit initiative to promote Africa as a
leading investment destination and actively challenge misconceptions
about investing on the continent.
Further developing its links with the
continent, the club announced recently the BFS Group Limited as its new
principal partner from season 2013-14. BFS Group is the main UK
operation of The Bidvest Group Limited, which is headquartered in South
Africa.
SAFC is also the first football club in the world to form a partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
0 comments:
Post a Comment