TTB short-changed 11bn/- in six years

Tanzania Tourism Board (TTB)

The Tanzania Tourism Board (TTB) has been running on shoestring budgets for six consecutive years now and there are concerns of the trend of inadequate funding to market and promote destination Tanzania to persist for quite some time, The Guardian can authoritatively report today.

 

While its regional competitors have bigger budgets to market their attractions, official figures show that the agency received an average of 2.26bn/- during the period.

 

That was only 55.2 per cent of the total amount required for financing its activities. The poor of the agency in the six financial years starting 2009/10 amounted to 11bn/-. Out of the 24.6bn/- which it needed, the government gave it only 13.6bn/-.

 

“TTB did not start getting insufficient funds yesterday…this has been happening for as long as I can remember. The situation will be the same this year and could remain unchanged for many more years,” said Dr Antipas Massawe, a commentator based in Dar es Salaam.

 

According to him, the government budgets have for many years failed to chart out concrete strategies and commitment to spearhead markets expansion and funding of promotion drives.

 

“In this year’s budget for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, there was no mention of increasing the TTB budget or giving the agency enough money to perform its duties,” he added.

 

The government acknowledges the fiscal anomaly but dismisses the idea of the situation persisting forever. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr Adelhelm Meru, said efforts are being made to sort out the matter.

 

He told The Guardian on Friday that several strategies have been devised to bail out TTB and ensure overall development of the industry. He said these include the introduction of the Tourism Development Levy in 2013, which has managed to raise 6bn/- to date. 

 

He said the levy was introduced to support TTB, the National College of Tourism and the Tourism Division at the ministry.

 

“With this and other initiatives, we expect to raise more funds for undertaking tourism promotional campaigns in external markets. That will enable Tanzania to have marketing offices and representatives abroad like other countries such as Kenya are doing,” Dr Meru said.

 

TTB’s underfunding worsened in the past two financial years when the allocated funds fell short by a staggering 65 per cent of the amounts requested. TTB had budgeted for 4.6bn/- each year but ended getting only 1.6bn/-.

 

Several other experts and sectoral players have also faulted the negative approach saying tourism was a hugely potential economic opportunity and development catalyst that deserved adequate and optimal funding.

 

They said that the lean funding has been detrimental across the board and denies the country the opportunity to meaningfully benefit from its natural beauties.

 

They see the sector paying more dividends to the country and the economy than its currently doing by getting sufficient funds to sale destination Tanzania.

 

“Marketing destination Tanzania needs and deserves adequate funding from multiple sources. These should include the government, the private sector through public-private partnership arrangements and many others,” Dr Honest Ngowi of Mzumbe University said on Saturday.

 

“More funds should be seen as investments that will give returns in future,” he added.

 

Dr Massawe, who is for an autonomous TTB, said that the agency should be given a reasonable percentage of tourism earnings especially the foreign exchange revenues.

 

The idea is seconded by several stakeholders like the former Kilimanjaro Tour Guides Association chairman, Mr Aloyce Kimaro, proposed that the agency should be allocated at least 20bn/- annually. That would be only 0.6 per cent of the 3,316bn/- that travel trade generated in foreign exchange last year.

 

“Tanzania will manage to promote its tourism attractions effectively if the government can give TTB at least 20bn/-to start with…and this is important because business in the industry is now down,” Mr Kimaro told The Guardian last week.

 

According to him, good returns can be obtained from the sector if its marketing and development are adequately funded like it was being done in Kenya, South Africa, Mauritius and other countries in the region. Whereas TTB was only given 1.6bn/- during 2014/15, marketing drives and promotional activities in South Africa and Kenya had staggering budgets of US$180m (389.7bn/-) and US$36m (77bn/-) respectively.

 

Uganda spent US$3.9m (8.4bn/-), Zimbabwe US$13m (28bn/-) and Namibia US$9.2m (19bn/-).

 

In 2009/10, TTB requested 3.624bn/- but the government allocated it 2.7bn/- while in 2010/11 it only got 1.74bn/- instead of 3bn/-. In the following financial year it was provided with 3.73bn/- out of a budget of 4.2bn/- and the figure decreased to 2.3bn/- in 2012/2013 from the 4.6bn it wanted.

 

The experts said short-changing TTB undermines the competitiveness of the industry that currently constitutes about 17 per cent of national output (GDP). It has been equally costing the economy dearly in terms of lost tax revenue and forgone foreign exchange.

 

Last year, the country hosted about 1.14 million holidaymakers and business travellers earning the economy US$2 billion.  The sector directly employs close to half a million people and contributes to almost 25 per cent of total export earnings. 

 

“The solution to TTB financial problems is to make it independent or semi-autonomous with a mandate to mobilise its own resources. The government does not have a good record of effectively funding public business oriented agencies,” said Dr Massawe said.  

 

Seasoned travel writer Elisha Mayala is against the idea saying TTB has many other inherent shortcomings such as limited product knowledge of destination Tanzania and wanting marketing skills.

 

TTB’s Acting Managing Director Devota Mdachi said making the agency autonomous was not the panacea to the problem. She said before that could be even thought of, an informed assessment of the matter was required for coming up with a feasible solution. 

 

She said that together with a meagre marketing budget, Tanzania continues to get value for many from what TTB is doing and the industry contributes handsomely to national coffers.

 

“An autonomous TTB will mean more costs to many stakeholders like tour operators who are already bearing the brunt of 34 taxes and levies,” the Executive Secretary of Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO), Sirili Akko, said.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN