By Alawi Masare
Dar
es Salaam — The Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (Tato) is
confident with the way the government responded to tourism challenges
but it wants a faster pace in addressing poaching and improving the
tourism business environment.
Tato came up with a policy proposal to make changes to the state of policing for tourists in the country.
Tato chief
executive Sirili Akko said they wanted to to have tourism and diplomacy
of police in areas with high concentration of tourists and already their
proposal was implemented.
"This proposal was
positively received and so far we have diplomatic units in Dar es
Salaam, Arusha, Tanga and Zanzibar. These are areas we think have high
concentration of tourists in the country," said Mr Akko by phone.
He said the units
were in their demand to address special security challenges the tourists
may face including basics like loss of the travel documents.
"We are actually in full swing with the police regardless of a few minor issues," he added.
Tourism safety and security is a key issue that makes a difference on the number of tourists that come into the country.
Tato wants the
governments of the East African Community countries to change their
foreign policies to make security a regional issue in efforts to attract
more visitors.
"Tanzania is part
of the East African Community and anything happening in Burundi or
somewhere else in the region closely affects us also. Right now, we do
not have a big security issue but due to what is happening in other
regional countries we also get affected. I remember Ebola was far in
some West African countries but we were affected in East Africa.
Visitors are very sensitive," said Mr Akko.
Other tourism challenges
According to him,
the major challenge with Tanzania's tourism is the fact that the country
"is an expensive destination compared with others in the region or even
in the continent, where tourist are getting more value for the same
money somewhere else."
However, he was
confident with the trend of the government in addressing the challenges
and improves the business environment for the operators and other
stakeholders.
He said former
President Jakaya Kikwete on his last days in office positively responded
to their concerns and they are now waiting for the promised tourism lab
in February 2016 that will address particular sectoral challenges.
"What we need now
is a faster pace for the government to curb poaching and improve the
tourism business environment. I'm confident that they will address the
issues of taxes which are very critical."
According to him, a
tour operator is supposed to pay 32 different taxes, levies and other
dues. The problem is not payment of the taxes but time and resources
spent during the compliance process and according to him, they spend 128
days per year for compliance.
Tourism is
Tanzania's leading foreign exchange earner which generated $2.2 billion
in the year ending September 2015, according to data from the Bank of
Tanzania. It was followed by gold at $1.3 billion and manufacturing at
$1.2 billion.
Tanzania also receives over one million visitors annually and the sector creates over 500,000 jobs.
However, the World
Bank argued in its 6th Economic Update published in January 2015 that
the industry can grow and create more high-paying jobs, and closer
linkages with businesses and local communities if the government
simplifies its system of taxes and fees and makes the sector revenue
allocations more transparent.
The industry was
estimated to have the potential to generate $16 billion (over Sh30
trillion) per year --- higher than Tanzania's Sh22 trillion set for
2015/16 Budget --- come 2025.
But Mr Jacques
Morisset, World Bank lead economist who authored the report, said the
target was achievable only if there is a change in policies and mindsets
among all stakeholders.
To increase tourism benefits to the economy and the public, the World Bank report proposed three strategic directions.
The first is to
diversify tourism activities from the current emphasis on high end
tourism in the north around Arusha and Zanzibar where up to 90 per cent
of tourism activities are currently concentrated. The report recommended
realising other opportunities, especially in the South, and developing
attractions and activities that cater to tourists on more modest travel
budgets, including more local and regional visitors.
The second
direction is to further integrate local communities and small operators
into tourism activities, through benefit-sharing processes. While such
efforts already exist in Tanzania, they are still at a small scale and
have had limited impact on the ground, according to the report.
The third direction
requires revisiting the current complex system of taxes and fees, and
the non-transparent use of revenues collected from tourism. The Economic
Update recommended that the system of taxes and fees should be made
simpler and enforced more equitably with the goal of reducing
transaction costs for businesses and closing loopholes that create space
for illegal payments. Furthermore, the distribution of the revenues
needs to be streamlined so that these can easily be tracked to increase
benefits for the majority of citizens.
Why the majority of Tanzanians have yet to benefit from tourism: World Bank
*While tourists are ready to spend a considerable amount of money to visit Tanzania, a portion of this spending remains abroad.
*Tourism is focused almost exclusively on two areas - the northern circuit around Arusha and the island of Zanzibar.
*Even around the
most visited areas, poverty is prevalent indicating that strong linkages
with local communities have yet to be established.
*Tourism sector has been expanding rapidly but has not created enough high value jobs.
*Unpredictable and
complex taxation system has discouraged investors, while non-transparent
redistribution mechanisms have made it almost impossible to track the
use of tourism revenues.
CITIZEN VOICES
Faus Duma, Iringa
To end illegal
measurement called lumbesa: 1. enough warehouses should be built so that
farmers do not sell their produce in farms. 2. Produce should be
weighed in kilos, not otherwise. 3. Special sacks with acceptable
measurements are needed. 4. Weights of produce should be inspected when
entering markets . 5. There should be indicative price for every produce
6. Public awareness on measurements, warehousing and market prices is
crucial. 7. Government should look for market on time 8. Well performing
organisations should be given first priority in lending equipment to
farmers, 9. Irrigation system should be improved
Julius Martin
Before formulating
by-laws, local authorities should think of involving stakeholders like
TCCIA to avoid nuisance charges. For instance, I own a hotel and I'm
supposed to pay a lot: 1.Income tax to TRA, 2. Hotel levy which accounts
for 20 per cent of raw income, 3. Billboard fee (whether you have it or
not), 4.Fire extinguishers in which I buy and service cylinders at my
cost; and 5. Licence fee. All these are taxes to one business.
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