SANParks offers 40% discount

2010-02-05 10:17

Bongekile Mhlanga

Nelspruit - South African National Parks (SANParks) are offering a 40% discount to anyone using their new online booking system for visits to parks in December.

The offer applies to selected camps in six national parks in South Africa, including the Kruger National Park.

“We chose these parks to boost their occupancy because not all of them are famous,” said the general manager of public relations, media and stakeholder relations at SANParks, Reynold Thakuli.

The parks are the Golden Gate Highlands national park in the Free State with one camp; the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga and Limpopo with nine camps; the Mapungubwe national park in Limpopo with three camps; the Marakele national park in Limpopo with one camp; the Mokala national park in the Northern Cape with one camp, and the Ai-Ais Richtersveld national park in the Northern Cape with five camps.

Thakuli said: "we chose camps such as the Bataleur Bushveld Camp and the Maroela Camping Area in the Kruger, for example, because they are less well known. People love booking accommodation at Skukuza and Satara and, to some people, the Kruger National Park is Skukuza."
 
“We want to change all that. People must know there are other rest camps that are as enjoyable as Skukuza.”

He said the parks agency also wanted to change the perception that SANParks were "all about" the Kruger National Park.

“Take, for instance, the Mokala national park, which is one of the smallest national parks in the Northern Cape. It is used as a breeding centre for certain animal species, especially buffalo, and people know zero about it.”

Thakuli said the discount was also aimed at testing the online booking system.

“We're just piloting the e-booking system and we'd like to see how well it works,” he said.

- African Eye