TOUR operators have hailed President Jakaya Kikwete and his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta for intervention in a row that threatened to disrupt tourism activities.

TOUR operators have hailed President Jakaya Kikwete and his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta for intervention in a row that threatened to disrupt tourism activities.

The Chairman of the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators, Mr Willy Chambulo, told the 'Daily News' on Tuesday that the two leaders had shown maturity by stepping in to resolve a situation that seemed to be leading to distrust and animosity between the two neighbouring countries.

"We congratulate President Kikwete and President Kenyatta for intervening on the dispute. But we must say we were impressed with the way it handled the matter," he said in an interview.

Tanzania and Kenya are locked in a tourism row after Kenyan authorities banned Tanzania registered vehicles from accessing the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in retaliation to reluctance by Tanzania authorities to allow Kenya tourists van access to the local tourists attractions.

Several round of talks between government officials from the two countries failed to resolve the issue. The Tanzanian government said it would respect the decision by Kenyan authorities as it considered steps to take to reduce inconveniences for tourists destined for Tanzania.

It said would not ban vehicles from any member of East African Community (EAC) or any other country from accessing the country's airports and airstrips to pick or drop tourists destined for those countries.

However, what is explained as a sheer coincidence of the matter, the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) slashed the number of flights by Kenya Airways into the country from 42 per week to 14, last month in the wake of a deadlock on the Bilateral Air Services Agreements (Basa) between the two countries.

Meeting in Windhoek, Namibia last month, the two leaders agreed to let Tanzania registered tourist vehicles access the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Kenya Airways (KQ) to resume to normal flight operations in Tanzania.

The two leaders also agreed that within four weeks, ministers for foreign affairs from the two countries will convene and chair meetings that will involve ministers of tourism and chief secretaries to discuss the impasse and reach a mutual beneficial agreement.

Mr Kikwete and Mr Kenyatta were in Namibia to attend the 25th Independence anniversary and inauguration of the third President of Namibia, Dr Hage Geingob