BETWEEN 80 to 100 individuals and companies - many of them well-known international investors - have expressed interest in the 13 sites identified earlier this year by South African National Parks (SANP) for private sector tourism development in several of South Africa's national parks, including Kruger National Park (KNP).
Head: corporate affairs at SANP, Dr Salif Siddou, told Travel Now that although he could not give details on the interested parties - who responded by Friday's deadline for registration - he would say that the interest was "much better than expected" and had attracted a "wide range" of bidders.
"We are in the process of drafting letters to all those who responded, advising them that the next step would be for them to send us a deposit of R5 000 in order to receive their information package which gives details on the various sites and outlines the specific tender requirements."
According to Siddou, this process basically tests the commitment of the bidders and unsuccessful bidders will be reimbursed.
"We are certainly on track for our October announcement of successful bidders and anticipate that we will appoint high calibre developers, judging from the overwhelming response."
(Adéle Mackenzie)
