Twyfelfontein sings at Adventure Travel Summit

Twyfelfontein Country Lodge wiped the opposition off the stage with their stunning performance in the finals of the Lodge Song Competition.
This national competition between the in-house performers of lodges across the country, is sponsored by Standard Bank. The first prize is N$15,000 for the choir and in addition, the once in a lifetime opportunity to perform at the upcoming Adventure Travel World Summit.
With just four months to go before the official opening of the Adventure Travel World Summit, the winning Twyfelfontein Country Lodge choir members are eager to perform at this grand event on 26 October 2013.
“We are very excited and look forward to the big day. We are doing practice sessions every day because singing and dancing is part of our culture and it is our pride. We are giving the message about our culture through the songs that we sing,” said team leader Carlos !Ganeb, relating how the choir members felt after recently scooping first prize at the 4th annual Joint Venture Lodge Song Competition.
Apart from winning N$15,000 in cash, the choir has also been chosen to sing at the opening event of the Adventure Travel World Summit when it starts in Windhoek in October. This performance will be in front of thousands of local, regional and international delegates.
!Ganeb said the N$15,000 cash prize will be used for the holiday transport of the lodge community’s school children.
Reflecting on the recent lodge song competition, Director of Tourism and Gaming, Sem Shikongo said “it was a magical event and Standard Bank’s sponsorship made a huge difference to the participating choirs and the choir that went to Switzerland last year. The choir members of the various lodges within these conservancies come from humble beginnings and getting into the limelight the way they did that night means a lot for these people. Thank you for contributing to the development of tourism.”
This is the second year that Standard Bank is supporting the Adventure Travel World Summit’s activities. Last year the bank contributed N$200,000 to assist sending the Dora Nawas choir to Switzerland to share Namibia’s culture with the ATWS delegates.
Standard Bank sponsored the 2013 Tourism Expo JV Lodge Song Competition with an amount of N$100,000. The bank is also sponsoring the Namibia Pavilion at the summit with a massive N$500,000.
“Standard Bank Namibia is a very proud supporter of the tourism sector. We recognize its importance. Tourism promotes conservation, helps create jobs in the rural areas and helps share our great country to the world. I truly believe that tourism is everyone’s business” said Mpumzi Pupuma, the bank’s CEO.