DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania – Tanzania earned $1.8 billion from tourism
in 2013, which is a first in the history of tourism in Tanzania.
The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Lazaro Nyalandu, was
speaking in Dar es Salaam last week on the sidelines of the just ended
international tourism fair.
Tanzania Tourism Board (TTB) has set up the new International Tourism
Fair dubbed as Swahili International Tourism Expo (S!TE) so as to open
up international tourism markets to local tourism agencies.
Nyalandu said this is the good step for the country’s tourism sector,
taking into consideration amid the current economic uncertainty,
“tourism is one of the few economic sectors in Tanzania growing
strongly, while driving economic progress in our country.”
According to Nyalandu, between 2002 and 2013, Tanzania registered a growth of over 50% in international tourist arrivals.
He said in 2013, Tanzania received 1,135,884 tourists, who earned the country $1.81 billion.
Tanzania is blessed with unique natural and cultural attractions but
minister Nyalandu said: “We cannot rely merely on the abundant tourist
attractions.
“It is important that we work harder than ever to capitalize on the
‘top of mind’ awareness that our previous efforts have generated for the
country. As a nation, we need to make concerted efforts on strategies
to promote our attractions.”
In February 2013, TTB entered into partnership with Pure Grit Project
and Exhibition Management LTD to establish an International Tourism
Fair in Tanzania, known as Swahili International Tourism Expo (S!TE),
with effective from October, 2014.
Pure Grit Project and Exhibition Management LTD is the company that
manages the INDABA Tourism Fair, one of the largest tourism marketing
events on the African calendar and one of the top three ‘must visit’
events of its kind on the global calendar.
The TTB Acting Managing Director, Devota Mdachi said that the effort
to establish S!TE in addition to promoting Tanzania as a preferred
tourist destination is intended to link the Small and Medium Tourism
Enterprises (SME’s) with the international Tourism market.
“It is a fact that many Tanzanian tourism agencies are small-scale
enterprises, which have limited capital and ability to access to
international tourism markets,” Mdachi said.
She said S!TE and in particular the hosted buyer programme will help address this challenge.
Mdachi, urged all tourism enterprises to seize the opportunity which
will enable them link their tourism businesses with regional and
international tourism markets.
S!TE, Tanzania’s first ever International Tourism Expo, will be held
annually in October at the Mlimani City Convention Centre in
Dar-es-Salaam and focuses on inbound and outbound travel to Africa and
takes the format of a travel and trade exhibition with a conference
element focusing on topical tourism, sustainability, conservation and
other market related issues.
Dar es Salaam has been strategically selected as a place for staging
the fair because of its geographical location, adequate air access; the
existing ‘state of the art’ and readily available infrastructure and
amenities suitable for establishing an international tourism fair.
0 comments:
Post a Comment