The Gary Kirsten Cricket Academy (GKCA) and Cape Africa Tours (CAT) are pleased to announce the launch of Gary Kirsten Travel & Tours. This initiative is the brainchild of Gary Kirsten and Andrew Russell, owner of Cape Africa Tours. Russell has been organising inbound sports tours to South Africa since January 2000 and is a registered member of SATSA (Southern Africa Tourism Services Association). Kirsten has launched his own Cricket Academy in Cape Town and Durban – and with his enormous profile in world cricket, there was immediate interest from both domestic and overseas players and teams. Such has been the demand for coaching at his Academy that the idea was conceived to start a Travel and Tours division and offer these individuals and teams a complete travel package – organising not only their coaching requirements but also all their travel arrangements.
Russell’s expertise in organising cricket tours offered Kirsten the perfect partner in this new business venture. Gary Kirsten Travel &Tours will operate as a division of Cape Africa Tours thus giving the brand all the necessary credibility and exposure required of a SATSA member in the world of sports tourism.
“Teams want to know they are travelling with a reputable, experienced Tour Operator – and with fourteen years of experience in the industry, and having handled countless inbound tours catering for all ages and abilities, Cape Africa Tours was the natural choice for us to partner with. We are excited about affording local players the opportunity to compete against talented international players and of course, having the opportunity to showcase South Africa’s facilities and cricket talent to the rest of the world,” commented Gary Kirsten.
According to Russell, “Gary is one of South Africa and the world’s cricketing icons – not only as a player who represented his country in 100 Tests and 185 One Day Internationals, but also as the World Cup winning Coach of India in April 2011 and more recently as Coach of the Proteas and the Delhi Daredevils. His Academy is now his passion and the place where he offers hands-on coaching for individuals and teams. This is not just another case of an International player lending his name to a business venture; Gary is heavily involved on a daily basis with his Academy – and loves nothing more than being in the nets with aspiring young cricketers. “My experience dealing with touring teams offers Gary the opportunity to focus on the coaching aspects and for us to handle all the travel and tour details. It is the perfect fit for both of us and I look forward to working with Gary and his GKCA coaches in the years ahead.”
There are other exciting initiatives, events and programmes in the pipeline – as these are launched the information will become available on our website www.garykirsten.com and on our Twitter and Facebook pages.
