By Amin Kef Sesay
This medium has reliably learnt that the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs in collaboration with Visit Sierra Leone (VSL), a reputable local tour operating institution will both facilitate the conclusion of the 2020 Budapest-Bamako-Freetown Rally.
The Government through the Ministry of Information and Communications has also informed that Sierra Leone will be the end destination for the 2020 Budapest-Bamako-Freetown Rally involving 227 vehicles that will commence in Hungary on 31January 2020.
It stated that the event will attract about 700 participants including international journalists, tour operators, travel writers, philanthropists, etc. from over 80 countries.
The team will travel through five (5) European countries across the Sahara onto the Guinea/Kambia border and will proceed to Masiaka where they will be received by the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs alongside local authorities.
The fleet will anchor at the Siaka Stevens Stadium where His Excellency, President Dr. Julius Maada Bio will deliver the keynote address to officially welcome the guests on Sunday 16th February, 2020.
As part of their tour, they are expected to also donate relief packages and plant approximately 2000 trees across the country in support of responsible tourism towards climate change.
According to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Joseph T. Kanu, Sierra Leone is being ranked high in the international global peace and security index, ahead of major leading tourism destinations in the world. As a result, the country has been chosen as the end destination.
It could be recalled that the Budapest Rally which has been organized in Hungary since 2005 and later extended to Africa, is one of the world’s biggest amateur vehicular event which serves as a humanitarian adventure to promote inter-cultural and social linkages across nations. Because it originated from Budapest to Mali as end destination, it was referred to as the Budapest-Bamako Rally.
