Tanzania Tourism & Tourism Related News Thread

[Geza Ulole]

[kiligoland]

Originally Posted by Geza Ulole

asante Mkuu...ni mwendo wa clips tuu sasa

kama kawa mkuu

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Saadani River Lodge







http://saadaniriverlodge.com/river.html

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[kiligoland]

Tourism promotion drive in full swing

Tanzania`s tourism policy is undergoing intensive review meant to help the country reap the most from its natural resources, a cabinet minister said in Morogoro on Saturday.
Natural Resources and Tourism minister Ezekiel Maige revealed to editors from various media outlets that “internal talks” were going on to transform the Tanzania Tourist Board into an autonomous and therefore self-financing agency similar to the Tanzania Forestry Service Agency.
He said the changes were necessary because it was simply impossible for the sector to register noticeable progress or growth without higher levels of patriotism, seriousness and public awareness as well as appropriate changes in the country’s laws and civil service procedures and regulations.
“Tanzania has excellent potential in tourism lying unexploited, and this has for long made us earn peanuts from the sector and fail to fully benefit from the abundance of forests and wild animals our country is blessed with,” said Maige.
He explained that the government has identified the major problems and challenges ailing the ministry and the agencies under it and has begun fighting to solve them by implementing a multi-pronged strategy.
He admitted, though, that the going is very tough “as some of the major investors and other players in the sector are wealthy and influential people and institutions mainly from outside our country”.
The minister gave the factors inhibiting the development of tourism in Tanzania as including high travel and other costs tourists have to incur, restrictive nature of tourist attractions particularly in urban areas, and restrictions on the building of hotels and lodges in national parks and game reserves.

Other hurdles cited are corruption and contravention of laws in areas such as allocation and use of hunting blocks, disheartenment by national park and game reserve employees resulting from lack of incentives, and the fact that some of Tanzania’s own media outlets sometimes portray the country as not a precious enough destination for foreign tourists.

“Unfortunately, contrary to what is going on in many countries with a highly developed tourism industry, Tanzania has been doing very little to promote and develop its tourist attractions. There are times our own media report sporadic cases of violence so sensationally that they frighten tourists,” he noted.
He said Tanzania’s tourism promotion budget was among the lowest in Africa while competition was intensifying, adding that this has made the government decide to lay emphasis on the promotion of mass tourism “because continuing to harp on traditional attractions such as Mount Kilimanjaro and Serengeti National Park won’t take us very far”.
Underlining the need for diversification in the tourism industry, Maige said it was wrong to assume that all tourists are filthy rich people and are interested in visiting world-famous landmarks.
He said he learnt important lessons from a recent World Tourism Organization meeting he attended in South Korea, elaborating: “Things like urban tourism can make a world of difference, but some parts of our cities and towns are endlessly dark and notoriously unsafe. Business is conducted only during daytime hours, which forces most foreign tourists visiting our urban areas to remain indoors most of the time instead of going out shopping for souvenirs.”
“The government is determined to reverse this trend, thus opening up business opportunities the Tanzanian private sector players could capitalize on. We are also determined to develop and promote our historical sites and beaches more vigorously,” he added.
However, he said he was saddened noting that the local hospitality industry was reluctant to support a planned tourism promotion fund.
He said it was strange that even putting up tourism promotional billboards at or near government-run facilities such as airports, “which clearly shows that even the public sector’s participation in the promotion of this crucial sector is abysmally low unlike in many other countries”.
The minister said it was important for Tanzanians to feel bad seeing that many foreign tourists enter the country aboard foreign flights, move around the country by foreign shuttle buses, stay in foreign-operated hotels and lodges and therefore spend relatively little money in Tanzania.
He called for closer cooperation between his ministry and the likes of TTB,Tanzania National Parks (Tanapa) and Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority in ensuring that the country’s wildlife and other natural resources become bigger money spinners contributing more handsomely to the country’s social and economic development.
Records show that Tanzania hosted some 295,000 foreign tourists in 1995, the number rising to more than 800,000 in 2009 and to over one million in 2010.
An overwhelming 76 per cent of these are said to have learnt about the country through on-line and TV advertisements or from previous visitors, and only 24 per cent from brochures found at Tanzania’s pavilions at international trade fairs.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

[Geza Ulole]

Sopa lodges to extend arm from Arusha to Zanzibar

By Staff Writer

Sopa Lodges, the tourism property chain running luxury hotels in both Tanzania mainland and Kenya, is planning to spread wings into the clove Islands of Zanzibar.

Sopa runs its Tanzanian operations (In the Northern Circuit) from Arusha City and now eyes both the Southern circuit as well as the Isles.

Speaking in Arusha, recently one of the Sopa Lodges officials, Mr Mehdi Jan-Mohammed stated that the company has also been awarded a certificate of merit by the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) as an outstanding Tax-payer who topped the Hotel and catering’s sector at national level.

But on the company’s intended expansion to the Isles; “Tanzania is the best tourist destination in Sub-Saharan Africa, for having a diverse of products than any other country in the region,” he said adding that there was a need to be well-positioned to ensure that high-quality and competitive services are offered to tourists.


One of the Sopa Lodges in East Africa. Zanzibari is their next destination.

In Addition to Zanzibar, Sopa Lodges also want to invest properties in the Southern Highlands where there is also future tourism potential in terms of virgin lands and less-visited National Parks and in fact Tanzania’s largest park, Ruaha lies in the Southern Park.

Attracting over 750,000 foreign visitors per year, Tanzania’s tourism industry relies heavily on Wild Animals (Game) viewing in National Parks found on the mainland but the country is currently working to promote beach tourism which is already well developed in Zanzibar.

Sopa Lodges runs three properties in Tanzania’s Northern Tourism Circuit; one in Ngorongoro (Conservation Area Authority), while the other two are found in Serengeti and Tarangire National Parks respectively.

Sopa Lodges also operates in neighboring country of Kenya at Maasai Mara, Lake Naivasha, Amboseli and Samburu National Parks.

“We are planning to establish one hotel in Zanzibar for starters next year, then build another property in one of the parks within the southern tourist circuit…the idea is to meet the industry’s demands, which in turn we’ll be expanding taxes horizon.”

Being the first firm to start its full operation in Tanzania, after the introduction of liberalization policy, Sopa Lodges serves nearly 30,000 tourists per year and the number is likely to go up in the near future.

In its operation, Sopa Lodges also works in network cooperation with Elewana Afrika, which operates Arusha Coffee Lodge, Tarangire Treetops, the Manor at Ngorongoro, Serengeti Migration Camp, Kilindi – Zanzibar, and AfroChic – Diani Beach.
http://www.arushatimes.co.tz/Local%20News_1.html

[tanzan]

Arusha — A new 97-room up market hotel has just opened its doors for business at the heart of Tanzania's sprawling safari capital city of Arusha. The Palace Hotel Arusha, a 20bn/- investment, stands out as an extraordinary adventure in hospitality industry.

The stylish and eyecatching facility with three conference rooms capable of accommodating between 20 and 150 people stands amidst gardens located between the hotel and the bravura historical buildings of Regional Commissioner Offices and the AICC, seat of the United Nations in Tanzania.

Located in Arusha's central business district, 45 minutes from Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) and 15 minutes from Arusha Airport Kisongo the hotel has the state-of-the art wellness centre boasting of infra-red sauna for ladies, coffee shop restaurants and bar.

"Everything about this hotel is an effortless experience, from the arrival ambience to what the hotel staff refer to as sleep experience, there is even the conferencing experience...our services will be a continuous series of uniquely refreshing experiences," says Mr Fred Maina, a hotel's hospitality consultant.

The new facility is the flagship of Palace Hotel Ltd group with several other similar hotels in the Dar es Salaam. Mr Maina promises great things for tourists in Arusha, saying it will create direct employment to about 120 people, with 1,000 family members benefiting. It also provides business opportunity for suppliers of hotel goods and services.

The hotel has so far, as part of its corporate social responsibility, beautified and upgraded Makongoro garden, creating a new ambiance for the city of Arusha.

Source:http://allafrica.com/stories/201202071299.html