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By Zephania Ubwani, Arusha
Despite having major attractions and vast potentials, Tanzania cannot fully tap the tourism market because it has no operating national flag carrier.
The executive secretary of the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (Tato), Mr Mustapha Akunaay, said the collapse of Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) was a drawback to the industry.
He said it was unfortunate that foreign tourists landing in the country from overseas fly in using competitors’ airlines.
Mr Akunaay, who was commenting on the East African Community Common Market protocol, said Tanzania would still benefit from a national airline as it is endowed with more attractive tourism sites than any other country in the region.
He allayed fears that Tanzania could lose to Kenya following the single market arrangement which opens borders of the five EAC member states to free movement of labour, goods, services and capital.
He said the quality of national parks and game reserves would enable Tanzania to remain one of the world's most preferred destinations for game viewing.
Although the northern tourist circuit remains popular, efforts have been made to promote other zones, especially in the southern part of the country, and diversify tourism products from depending on wildlife-based attractions only.
He said the number of tourists visiting the southern tourist circuit has increased in recent years, as has the number of hotels and lodges near tourist sites and major towns.
Tourists visiting Tanzania annually are now approaching one million, the majority coming from the traditional source markets in the West, mostly the US.
But the Tato official emphasized that lack of an operational flag carrier flying to major tourist source markets in the world was a major drawback.
“This has made Tanzania one of the major tourist destinations in Africa without an effective national airline,” he pointed out.
He added that its absence has also made Tanzania an expensive destination compared with other states in the region, as there are no direct flights to fly tourists into the country.
ATCL, the national flag carrier which was established in the late 1970s, has been in trouble for some years despite its partnership with the South African Airlines (SAA) in 2002.
It struck a privatisation deal with SAA on December 2002 under which the latter acquired 49 per cent shares for $20 million that largely went into shareholding.
But the marriage collapsed in 2008. Consequently the troubled airline went into talks with a Hong Kong-based private firm in a bid to revive ATCL by selling 49 per cent shares.
China Sonangol International Holding Limited was expected to fund the airline's operations, but the negotiations took a long time, and recently the government announced that it was approaching Air Zimbabwe.
There had also been reports that a US firm, Celtic Air Corporation, showed interest in the deal. Other companies in the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates are said to have expressed their interest as well.
According to the minister for Infrastructure Development, Dr Shukuru Kawambwa, the ailing ATCL needs more than $540m (about Sh2.14 billion) to operate effectively.
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