Invest more in promoting tourism, TZ govt advised
Tourists take a walk in Sumbawanga Town after arriving from visiting the Katavi National Park in Katavi Region. The park encompasses the Katuma River and the seasonal lake of Katavi as well as Lake Chada. Tanzania is now famed as the top tourist best destination in Africa. PHOTO I FILE
What you need to know:
Tanzania came top in Africa’s best tourist destinations. However, tourism, which is now the country’s number one source of forex still attracts less than 2 million visitors per year. Opinion makers give their views on what needs to be done to ensure Tanzania remains at the top rank as well as seeing the sector grow
Nshimba Paulo
The government hasn’t done enough to advertise Tanzania’s tourism potential locally and internationally. It is high time enough money was set aside for this goal. It is not enough to just let tourists coming to Tanzania to be our ambassadors.
Also, the government should scale up anti-poaching efforts by allocating more resources. Game rangers should be trained well and technologically empowered to enable them fight poachers who are always equipped with modern weapons.
Though poaching incidences have recently gone down, much still needs to be done to increase participation of the local community in anti-poaching campaign.
These efforts will increase the number of endangered species of animals in famous game reserves like the Selous. Part of this was declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) as one of the World Heritage endangered sites.
Lauson Leonard
The country shouldn’t think of generating more money from tourism without putting enough resources in terms of advertisements. The ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism should contract local and international celebrities including artists, football players and politicians for publicity.
Also, the government should strengthen relationships between national parks authorities and surrounding communities to obtain support from them when planning for security improvements in an effort to end poaching which has significantly reduced the number of wildlife animals.
Dennis Dingilee Syldion
The government should increase people’s understanding of tourism issues especially in traditional tourism which will help in conserving endangered customs and traditions in various tribes. There is a need for the country to protect this type of tourism and reap benefits out of it.
Paul Nyantory
The government should abandon conflicting policies in the sector. For instance, while poor publicity is known to cause inadequate number of tourists visiting the country, the government impose a number of taxes and levies in the sector.
When related government officials are asked, they simply reply that the country was against mass tourism. Therefore, the country should review its policies and stop being double standard.
