ALTHOUGH tourism has become the second largest
foreign exchange earner sector in the country after minerals, few women have
ventured into this industry.
"Women empowerment is critical component to
enable them participate fully in the industry," says Mrs Adventina Robert
Matungwa, the Managing Director for Walkgard hotels and tours.
Kagera region has only two registered tour
operators, Walkgard hotels and tours and Kiroyera tours and safaris, also
managed by a woman, Ms Mary Kalikawe. Mrs Matungwa strongly believes that if
women are empowered, they could play a major role in promoting tourism. She
urged other women to come forward and venture into the sector, which she
described as wellpaying.
"When I and my husband (Robert Matungwa)
invested over one million us dollars into the Walkgard hotels and tours some
people just thought we were crazy," she said, adding that gradually the
residents have been changing with more people showing up at the weekends to use
the hotel services.
On future plans, she said she recently bought a
luxury fast boat capable of carrying 12 tourists which would be making to and
fro trips to different tourist sites along Lake Victoria.
"We're also planning to build the tourism
and hotel management college which will train different workers. One of the
challenges is the availability of trained staff in the Lake Zone. With the
expansion of the Bukoba Airport, Bukoba can now host big seminars and meetings.
The government in the region has been working closely with local investors to
ensure the hospitality industry in this region is improving," she said.
Kagera region is endowed with abundant tourist
attractions. However, most of them have not been effectively tapped and
developed due to lack of promotion and low investment in the sector. The Kagera
Regional Economic profile reveals that the region has five game reserves with a
total of 5,526 square kilometres.
The game reserves with respective kilometres in
brackets are: Biharamulo (1,300); Burigi (2,200); Kimisi (1,026); Rumanyika
(800)and Ibanda (200). Various types of wildlife are found in these game
reserves. They include elephants, lions, giraffes, buffaloes, leopards,
hippopotamus and antelopes, to mention but a few.
There are also certain species of birds and
butterflies found in these game reserves which cannot be found elsewhere in the
world. Tourist attractions found in the region include traditional houses of
chiefs Rumanyika of Karagwe, found at Bweranyange, Chief Kasusura of Biharamulo
and Chief Balamba of Ngara.
What was needed now was to focus on upgrading of
one of the Game reserves to National Park. This will increase the number of
tourists in the Region.
SOURCE; TANZANIA DAILY NEWS (Dar es Salaam)
By Mulisa Meddy, 22 November 2013,
0 comments:
Post a Comment