Experts push for overhaul of tourism to boost revenue

Dar es Salaam. Tourism accounted for 17 per cent of Tanzania’s gross domestic product in 2017.

Its contribution to GDP is forecast to reach 20 per cent by 2025, according to Tanzania Confederation of Tourism (TCT) official Moses Ngereza.

Its revenue is projected to rise to $16 billion from $2.3 billion last year.

“More than 2 million jobs are expected to be created by 2025 compared with 1.4 million jobs recorded in 2017,” he said in his recent presentation.

But tourism stakeholders say the contribution could have been higher if improvements and reforms were made in the sector.

Reforms should be legislative and institutional. Improvements should be made in the preservation of natural assets and human resources capacity.

Improvement of infrastructure for product diversification is also crucial so is quality branding for worldwide appeal. Others are strengthening public private partnerships (PPP), improving the citizens’ engagement, increasing people’s awareness, pouring more investments in the sector and the need for political will.

These suggestions were made recently during a debate organised by Policy Forum under the theme Converging wildlife conservation and tourism in Tanzania: what can be done for policy coherence?

Presenting a paper, Mr Ngereza said laws should be amended to end the overlapping of some duties by three ministries: those of Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources and Tourism.

“Tourism laws and regulations should also be reviewed to make them more facilitative. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, and parastatal laws and regulations should be aligned after review,” he said. He also called on the government to review the tourism policy to articulate the new vision in promoting product diversification, new destinations and inclusive participation. According to him, since tourism has undergone significant changes domestically and internationally, the new policy is important to accommodate new trends.

“The absence of a long-term National Tourism Development Programme and incoherent institutions and regulations make the organisation of the sector complicated and fragmented due to lack of proper coordination,” he cautioned.

He said a 10-year Tourism Sector Development Programme should be formulated to guide reforms for the sector’s sustainable growth and realisation of conservation and inclusiveness.

He also spoke about the need to improve the preservation of natural resources as between 2009 and 2014, Tanzania lost 114,504 elephants.

He is worried that the situation threatens prosperity of tourism.”There is no tourism without the elephants.”

He is also concerned about the prevalence of large-scale dynamite fishing, which destroys coastal tourism development.

“Thirty per cent of the protected areas have been encroached upon and more than 80 hunting blocks have been returned to the government, worsening the situation,” he said. “Wildlife, as a component of nature-based tourism, needs a healthy environment to be sustainable. Small losses in carrying capacity of the ecosystem will cause a large loss to economy as a whole.”

He noted that the Vice President’s Office 2013 report on the National Strategy for Reducing Deforestation and Forest Degradation showed Tanzania was facing significant desertification because of widespread deforestation.

According to the report, between 2005 and 2010 deforestation led to a loss of 403,000 hectares (about 4030 km2).

“The country is ranked 17th in the world for average annual area of deforestation and third in Africa. But, the country also loses its sources of water,” he said, citing the Great Ruaha as an example.

Mr Ngereza said Tanzania needed skilled personnel in tourism.

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) competitiveness report 2017, Tanzania was No. 119 out of 140 countries in terms of the quality of labour in the sector, suggesting that much has to be done to ensure the country is benefited from the sector.

He said the proposed Tourism Development Programme should be fast-tracked to attract more investments.

“Fast-tracked tourism infrastructure development will open up the Southern and Western circuits because infrastructure is still under-developed, most critically airports, airstrips and land for tourism investment including hotels, beach resorts, campsites, airport hotels and roads to access protected areas,” he said.

He noted that 80 per cent of the government’s revenue from the sector came from four protected areas: Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Manyara and Kilimanjaro.

“Representation of the private sector in the Tanzania Tourist Board should be increased, destination visibility and accessibility should also be improved, the national airline should operate in terms of the PPP setups,” he said. “Visa processing on arrival should be fast-tracked.”

Regarding quality branding and worldwide appeal, he said the country should use the World Tourism Icons — Serengeti wildlife migration, Mount Kilimanjaro and Ngorongoro Crater — to attract visitors to other parts of the country.

Babati Rural MP Jitu Soni (CCM) underscored the importance of strengthening PPPs to improve tourism.

He noted that other sectors such as agriculture and livestock should be accommodated in tourism and that regulatory bodies should be brought under one roof.

“Some taxes and levies should either be scrapped or reduced to attract more players into the sector. Also, the aspect of citizens’ participation should be stressed to boost domestic and international tourism,” he said.

Mr Soni spoke of the need to improve Tanzania’s ranking globally after slipping to the eighth position in 2018, out of 140 countries. In 2011 it was the second.

Tarime Urban legislator Esther Matiko (Chadema) said the public should be educated from at a tender age on the importance of tourism and conservation.

“We also need to improve the quality of education provided by tourism colleges because services provided by four- and five-star hotels in the country discourage tourists,” she said.

She said investments should be increased in the sector and an aggressive marketing undertaken to attract more tourists.

“While dialogue in needed on the best way of engaging a large number of citizens in the sector, the country should consider shifting to artificial tourism as an alternative after making enough investment in natural attractions,” she said.

Mr Japhet Makongo of the 141D Inclusive Development said political will was important in promoting tourism.

He emphasised the need for instill ing patriotism in the minds of Tanzanians to promote domestic tourism.

Independent health and wellness trainer Florence Shirima supported the idea that the government should start investing in creating artificial tourists attraction.

“Nobody can guarantee that natural attractions and resources will remain the same in the next 10 years amid increasing globalisation, climate change and industrialisation pressures,” she said.

Tanzania Tour Guide Awards founder Sadock Mugetta called on the government to revise the one stop entrance system into national parks.

“Stakeholders should be involved in decision-making because they are the ones directly dealing with tourists. The sector is greatly damaged when they leave with a negative perception on the industry,” he said.

“Policies, laws and regulations should be fast-tracked to enable the country speed up its development.”

An oral public health and health care administration specialist from Finland, Dr Juha Ruotoistenmakin, said the sector was charging higher fees, noting that packages could be categorised to accommodate elders, youth and other social groups.

“Foreigners with monthly salaries of $3,000 spend $2,000 for a one week trip to Tanzania. Some of them especially retired people can’t afford to visit the country and opt for other destinations,” he lamented.

Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism official David Mpangile said the government was seriously taking their concerns into consideration and promised to act on them.

According to him, a joint meeting of the Tanzania National Business Council in 2015 has constituted significantly the new Tourism National Policy. “The government is in final stages of reviewing the policy before being full enactment to replace the Tourism National Policy 1999,” he said. According to him, the government has digitalised the sector’s payment system and that stakeholders needed less than five minutes to complete the payment process.

Tanzania Tourist Board marketing director Ernest Mwamwaja said an anti-poaching campaign had borne fruit and the number of elephants had significantly increased.

“A World Bank-funded project focusing on improve infrastructure in the Southern circuit is expected to largely add value to the country’s tourism industry,” he said.