Set up Tourism Week for locals to promote industry, lawmaker urges government

Tanapa Media Awards winners in 2013 (from left), Gerald Kitabu of The Guardian, Vedasto Msungu of ITV/Radio One and, David Rwenyagira of Radio-5, with Tanapa communications manager Pascal Shelutete.

The government and Tanzania National Parks (Tanapa) in particular, have been urged to emulate South African National Parks’ plans and strategies of setting up a tourism week so as to enable many locals to fully participate in promoting domestic tourism.

 

The Chairman of permanent parliamentary committee on land natural resources and environment James Lembeli who was in South Africa told The Guardian during a tour of Kruger park, the largest national Park in South Africa.

 

The Kahama lawmaker had accompanied the first three winners of Tanapa Media Awards in 2013 who are currently visiting different tourism attractions in South Africa.

 

“I have been impressed with South Africans plans to promote domestic tourism and other tourism attractions among the locals. We need to buy a leaf from them so as to swell the number of locals visiting our parks” he said.

You can see here in South Africa, from 1-11 of September it is a tourism week during which the South Africans, individually or in groups and different public and private institutions visit their parks which is a very good plan” he added.

 

He said that the tourism week in Tanzania should be preceded by promotion campaigns including education dissemination among the general public on the importance of visiting their national parks.

 

 “If the locals build a culture of visiting our national parks, they will be able to value its potentialities and can easily participate in revealing the poachers easily because they already know the benefits accrued from their national parks. 

 

He urged the Tanzania National Park to emulate plans and strategies of the National Housing Corporation (NHC) management, which, in just few years, it has restored confidence and trust of its customers, making the corporation one of the exemplary corporations in Tanzania.  

 

“It is very unfortunate that some Tanzanians think that tourism is for the foreigners, we need to change their mindset. I think during the tourism week, Tanapa should prepare different programs that would attract them and build a culture of valuing and visiting their parks.

 

The journalists’ ten-day study tour is part of the awards offered by Tanzania National Parks (Tanapa) almost three months ago.

While in South Africa, the winners will visit historical sites such as the Apartheid Museum, and Soweto where Nelson Mandela and other South African freedom fighters lived.

 

The first winners will also visit Hector Peterson museum, Pillannesburg Sun City, the capital city of South Africa (Pretoria), and Lesedi cultural village.

 

The winners will also get an opportunity to visit some of the international radio and TV stations like BBC, and SABC, SANEF, the Mail & Guardian and the famous South African Kruger Park among many other tourists’ attractions.

 

In all these South African tourists’ areas, the winners will get an opportunity to see for themselves and exchange ideas, experiences and knowledge on how best they can use South African experience to promote tourism in Tanzania.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN