Promoting tourism

The United Kingdom is keen to have more of its citizens visit Tanzania as tourists, reported The Citizen yesterday – apparently quoting the British High Commissioner in Tanzania, Her Excellency Sarah Cooke.

How thoughtful; how kind of the High Commissioner, who also heaped praise on the abundance, diversity and quality of tourist attractions/sites in the country. These include the legendary Mount Kilimanjaro which – at 5,895 metres (about 19,341 feet) above sea level – is the world’s highest free-standing/stand-alone mountain this side of Heaven.

This is to say nothing of Africa’s tallest indigenous tree on the Kilimanjaro, the 81 meters (265 feet) tall ‘entandrophragma excelsum.’ This is the sixth tallest tree on Planet Earth today, and is estimated to be 500-600 years old.

Tourism is steadily becoming a major pillar of Tanzania’s economy. As noted in The Citizen on July 27, 2019, Tanzania hosted 1.4 million international tourists last year, who contributed $2.4 billion to the Economy – up from 1.3 million arrivals and $2.3 billion in 2017. While we must be grateful no end to the likes of Her Excellency the British High Commissioner in helping to promote and otherwise boost Tanzanian tourism, we must also put our collective nose to the grindstone – and our shoulder to the wheel – in doing more of the same.