Tanzania: Tourism to Get Bigger Budget, Says Govt

By Rosemary Mirondo

Dar es Salaam — Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Prof Jumanne Maghembe yesterday said the government would increase budget for tourism with the aim of devising ways of attracting more tourists.

The funding, he said, would empower the TanzaniaTourist Board (TTB) to design new products that would increase the number of tourists visiting the country.

Prof Maghembe said this when he visited the board and stressed that the aim of increasing the next budget is to enable the sector double its contribution to the GDP from $2 billion (Sh4.4 trillion) to $4 billion (Sh8.8 trillion) in the next two years.

He stressed that there is need for TTB to be more innovative and devise numerous ways towards effectively attracting tourists to the country.

"Currently, the country only attracts about 1.1 million tourists annually, but with new interventions we expect them to increase to at least 3 million in the next two years," he said.

According to him, the society was too conservative and clung to old ways even as climate change and other factors demanded that new approaches be adopted.

Elaborating, he said during dry spells the water levels fall thus endangering organisms living in them, but those responsible were still reluctant to come up with interventions that could save the organisms.

He also noted that TTB needed to build the capacity and empower hotel owners in the country so that they would start building hotels at the level of at least one star, so as to assure tourists of reliable and safe accommodation.

He was surprised that since 2007 the country was yet to finalise the classification of hotels, while such a move was vital for tourism.

He said three months ago, former President Jakaya Kikwete initiated the process of branding the country's name from 'Tanzania, the Land of Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar and Serengeti' to 'Tanzania, the Soul of Africa' but this was yet to be effected, all because TTB lacked the required funds.

He said that although the country still owed international media Sh3.7 billion, and Sh702 million to local media houses, the government will immediately start clearing the debts so that such media outlets as BBC and CNN would start broadcasting the branding initiative.

TTB acting managing director Devota Mdachi said Tanzania faced many challenges in the sector including lack of a national carrier, something that ended up boosting Kenya and South Africa's carriers that fly to major global markets.

She said that TTB needs at least a budget of Sh15 billion to be able to come up with innovations aimed at marketing the country's attractions.