Tanzania: Dar Seeks Investors in Hotel Industry to Woo High-End Tourists

By Apolinari Tairo

Tanzania is looking for more investments in hotels, to attract high- end tourists and boost the sector's competitiveness on a global scale.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism Adelhelm Meru said the country needed five-star hotels to realise this goal.

"We have a duty to create a conducive environment for investments in hotels as the sector has been expanding too slowly to match the growing number of visitors," said Dr Meru.

Data from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism shows that Tanzania has 174 registered tourist hotels with a total room capacity of about 21,929.In 2014, the country attracted 1,140,156 tourists who injected $2 billion into the economy.

"Tourism is now Tanzania's leading foreign currency earner sector and a key economic sector," said Dr Meru.

The travel and tourism industry competitiveness report issued by the World Economic Forum in June 2015 ranked Tanzania 93 out 141 world tourist destinations rich in abundant natural resources.

The former chairman of Hotel Association of Tanzania Damas Mfugale said improving Tanzania's infrastructure and transport services would make it a more accessible destination.

"Poor roads and power shortages make tourists feel uncomfortable and erodes the competitiveness of the destination," he told The EastAfrican.

Some members of the Hotel Association of Tanzania said the extra costs for fuel to run their establishments due to power outages over the past years hurt their operations.

Tourism and hotel consultant, Leopold Kabendera said that loadshedding was damaging the image of tourism in Tanzania, since visitors do not appreciate traffic lights that do not work, elevator breakdowns, blackouts at hotel rooms and a lack of laundry services.

The managing director of the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) Felchesmi Mramba said the power utility planned to increase the supply to key business ventures, including tourist hotels, mostly in Dar es Salaam.

Dar es Salaam leads in the number of hotels of international standards, such as Serena Hotel, Southern Sun, Double Tree Hilton Hotel, Hyatt Kilimanjaro Hotel, Peacock Hotel, and Sea Cliff Hotel.

The northern city of Arusha has 91 hotel investments, including the leading Impala Chain, which manages Impala Hotel, Naura Springs, and the prestigious Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge.

The Kilimanjaro region, famous for Mount Kilimanjaro and home to Tanzania's Arabica coffee, has 38 high-class tourist hotels and lodges, including Kilemakyaro Mountain Lodge, Mountain Inn (Shah Tours) and Nakara Hotels.