Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Sir Richard Branson's new Love Affair

by N. G. maroa

Dubbed as one of the greatest dare devil adventurers of our time, Sir Richard Branson is at it again. Branson is passionate about life and living every minute to its fullest. Since 1985 he has been getting his adrenaline rushes through world record breaking attempts by boat and hot air balloon. Several distance and speed records have been attempted and achieved. Sir Richard Branson makes each record attempt a media event with his Virgin logo prominently displayed during every launch, which has been an excellent source of free advertising and brand placement for the Virgin Group.

This time the theater is in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya. The British billionaire will soon be investing in a new lodge outside the Maasai Mara Game Reserve. He plans to lease land from communities outside the Mara where he will put up a high end lodge worth millions of pounds.


In his effort to woo UK tourists back to Kenya Sir Richard Branson who is also the president of Virgin Atlantic, has launched a 240,000 pounds advertising campaign. The drive began on 19th May and will focus on the migration of the wildebeest.

Flight cancellations following the turmoil heavily affected the airline, leading to reduced revenues, though daily flights have now resumed. The airline also unveiled a new advertising campaign in the UK to attract tourists to Kenya and help rebuild the Nairobi-London route, which was one of the worst hit as a result of the violence that rocked the country.

"It was disastrous for all businesses and we stayed faithful to Kenya and decided to continue though we could have used the planes on another route," he said last weekend while on a visit to the Mara. The campaign started on May 19 and appears on London's railway stations as well as in the media.

The project brought in ten Virgin frequent flyer program volunteers who spent their time at a local school project that Virgin became involved in last year when Sir Richard Branson came to Kenya during the airline's inaugural flight last June.

Like all other travelers who visit the Mara, it has been love on first sight for Sir Richard Branson.

He once said, “Ridiculous yachts and private planes and big limousines won’t make people enjoy life more, and it sends out terrible messages to the people who work for them. It would be so much better if that money was spent in Africa – and it’s about getting a balance.”

This belief is now being put into practice in the Maasai Mara.


For more details visit http://www.sarovahotels.com/mara/

By N. G. Maroa


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