Magufuli: Less Tourists are Okay

The battle lines are now clearly drawn in Tanzania between the country's tourism industry and the government, after President Magufuli told the sector off over their dissent about the Value Added Tax (VAT) of 18 percent, which was unexpectedly heaped on services across the board, national park entrance fees included.

During a function at State House, the President in fact added salt to the wounds of the tourism industry when he told them that those not willing or able to pay the added cost should stay away and that the country did not need tourists who were not paying taxes. He was specific that it was better to have just half a million tourists who pay VAT than a million who do not pay VAT.

 “It makes no sense to attract a big number of tourists but fail to benefit from them,” he was quoted to have said to the utter dismay of one of the country's leading economic sectors.

Reactions, all on condition of anonymity, were swift and harsh, with some counseling their President to take a class in economics first before making such utterances and pointing to the lessons Kenya had to learn when that country added VAT, only to withdraw the measure two years later after disastrous results vis-a-vis tourism arrivals.

“President Magufuli has been misled by some of his advisors that the impact of the VAT can be neglected. This is far from the truth, however. Already we have thousands of cancellations for safaris after prices rose by an average 20 percent from one day to the next. What none of those bureaucrats appreciates is that once prices are quoted, there is a legal foundation to stick to them for several months. In particular in Europe, consumer protection laws are prohibiting to pass on price increases and so who pays for the VAT now” It is either us or the tour operators overseas, and neither can absorb such exorbitant increases without going broke.

“Such tax measures, if at all, need to come with sufficient notice to allow revision of quotations. Anyway, as we have discussed, let the figures speak for themselves when the statistics come out. I and my colleagues all predict a big hit on our arrival numbers, not just for safaris but across the board,” added one regular source from Arusha earlier in the day to a chorus of voices from across the tourism sector in Tanzania, which overwhelmingly felt let down.

“Me, I blame our tourism minister for failing us. He should have taken our sentiments on board and spoken in our favor. That man will have a very difficult life from now on when he comes to deal with us, because we really have lost all respect for him. There is a big amount of arrogance in what he said, and there inevitably are consequences. A few months into his job, he is already the biggest failure among tourism ministers,” ranted another regular source echoing the sentiments expressed in messages and mails received.

Others termed President Magufuli's decision as the first major mistake in his presidency with one other regular contributor saying something to the effect that arrogance comes before the fall, besides a range of other utterances not fit to be repeated here.

Feedback from the region was also swift, and in particular Kenyan operators showed some glee over the prospect of safari traffic coming their way as Kenya's tourism industry, since the budget this year no longer pays VAT on tourism services, lowering the cost of safaris on a broad basis.

A few expressed their sympathy with their Tanzanian counterparts, especially those from tourism associations, one of them quipping: “We went through the same troubles, and our government learned the hard way what a mistake they made. That came sadly with loss of jobs and companies closing down, and I can only wish my colleagues in Tanzania the best as they go into the same downward spin we experienced over the past years.”

For now, it is watch and see, and all eyes will be on the arrival statistics for the period from July onwards this year, when they become available, to let the facts speak and show, just how massive the impact of VAT on the sector will be.

Ngorongoro: Laetoli Discovery Raises Tanzania's Profile

Ngorongoro — Tanzania has announced that its researchers have made a second important discovery of human evolution evidence dated 3.7 million years' old of hominin footprints within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), north of Tanzania.

Tanzanian Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, Prof. Jumanne Maghembe made the announcement at Laetoli, that the new discovery places Tanzania at the fore front in human origin research particularly in understanding the origin of upright posture and bipedal gait by providing the only concrete evidence that our ancestors were fully bipedal 3.7 million years ago.

Laetoli holds the record of the world-famous archaeological site where the first hominid footprints excavations were discovered by a team of scientists led by Dr. Mary Leakey in 1978. This geological site has over the years inspired scientists, researchers and geologists including tourists to witness first-hand the human evolution evidence found in Africa.

Prof. Maghembe applauded the good work that was done by scientists, consultants, local experts led by Tanzanian researchers making Laetoli a site of a second major discovery of hominin footprints in Tanzania, about 60 metres from the first discovery of Dr. Mary Leakey in 1978.

He, stressed, however the ongoing work in the several trails should continue at a good speed.

The latest discovery is a result of a scientific research work in which the NCA gathered a team of scientists from all over the world at Laetoli. The team of geologists led by Tanzania researchers verified the validity of the print as homin footprints in their ten-day research work at Laetoli.

The last three years, according to Engineer Joshua Mwankunda, the national project manager at the site, have seen consistent research work at the site. Mwankunda has been a manager for eight years at NCAA in the heritage and cultural department. He has since spent the recent three years at the site to coordinate activities.

This discovery is a result of the cultural heritage impact assessment work that was conducted by consultants from South Africa and Tanzania. Peter Rich Architects from South Africa and the Arusha based GMP Consulting engineers were contracted by the NCAA in February 2014 to carry out the architectural briefs and supervision of the Laetoli hominin footprints proposed museum.

Arusha - Mount Meru International Marathon

Arusha — The newly revived Mount Meru International Marathon has been scheduled for next September, with the race still sticking to its 21 kilometres' half-marathon as the ceiling for main event.

But the announced September 4 date may even cause the Mount Meru race to clash with the other running event, the Safari Marathon which of late has been an on and off affair, having skipped the last year schedule due to what the organisers described to be paving way for the 2015 country political campaigns and general election.

The Mount Meru Marathon's organising secretary Alfred Nicolas said here that the aim of this year's race is to promote tourism (which again seems to be the turf for Safari Marathon), to discover and promote new talents in athletics and encourage physical exercise through sports for the maintenance of people's well-being. At least 3,000 participants are expected to run this year, based on previous experiences and that, the event will also attract over 10,000 spectators.

"We are ready to present prizes worth 2.5m/- to the winners and at the moment we have 1,000 medals to award winners and finishers," said Nicolas in an official statement. The start and finishing points are yet to be announced; but usually the race would be flagged off from the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium and end up there.

Sometimes though, coordinators may decide to choose the central Clock- Tower junction as the starting point. There will only be two categories of the Mount Meru Marathon; the main event of 21 kilometres' race and the 5 kilometres run which comes in two categories; children race and women runners, with the participants advised to register at the Mamboleo Digital event office or online at 'mountmerumarathon. com'.

September, the month scheduled for Mount Meru Marathon, is also the same time that the other marathon the Safari Run is expected to resume this year, how the two athletic events will survive alongside each other is the bridge that needs to be crossed upon being reached.

Tanzania Faculty Experience Eco-tourism and More

REGIONAL - Eight faculty members from two Tanzania educational institutions visited the region recently to learn more about teaching others in their country through tourism programs.

The Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) is partnering with the Vocational Education and Training Authority in Tanzania on Global Affairs Canada funded projects, managed by Colleges and Institutes Canada.

One project is supporting VETA Hotel and Tourism Training Institute in Arusha, Tanzania to create a new tourism operations diploma program and short courses. The other is supporting the VETA Mikumi campus to create a new eco-cultural tourism certificate program.

Through these projects, NSCC will help build capacity at these institutions to deliver new tour guiding programs through curriculum writing, teacher training and various short courses on subjects such as entrepreneurship, customer service, marketing and gender.

During the first week of their stay the group participated in an eco/cultural tourism study tour of the south shore of Nova Scotia. Some of their experiences included visiting the Ross Farm Museum, the Fisheries Museum in Lunenburg and Kejimkujik National Park.

In the Halifax area they toured Pier 21 Canada’s Immigration Museum and Peggy’s Cove.

Since Tony Dorrian has been working with NSCC International closely on these projects he was able to provide an itinerary for Yarmouth. Dorrian has worked with faculty from Malaysia and escorted students on study tours to Belize and Costa Rica. “International exposure is learning at its best,” he said.

“NSCC has had a relationship with the community college system in Tanzania (VETA) for over six years now. As a result we have formed strong friendships with our colleagues, and we have learned so much from each other.” He added that local operators were very receptive and welcoming - answering questions and offering insight in how to create experiences for their guests.

While in this region, visitors had a chance to try kayaking with the Song of the Paddle, dragon boating on Lake Milo, hiking in Cape Forchu, touring the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre and visiting the Deep Sky Observatory in Quinan for astronomy tourism.

Some of them also got to experience culinary tourism at the Hatfield House. In addition to the tours, the visitors also took faculty development courses at NSCC.

President Magufuli Closed Debate on VAT

Heated debate on the 18 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on tourism services and transit cargo was yesterday closed, with President John Magufuli strongly backing the new charges. The president said the government was determined to exhaust all available sources in its quest to increase revenues to fund development projects.

"It's better to have 500,000 tourists who pay tax than host two million who do not," Dr Magufuli said in Dar es Salaam after witnessing 58 senior police officers taking pledge of integrity for public leaders at State House.

The officers were recently promoted to Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCP) and Senior Assistant Commissioners of Police (SACP). Dr Magufuli blasted some players in the maritime industry who have been complaining on reduced numbers of ships docking at the Dar es Salaam port due to introduced VAT for transit cargo through Tanzania.

"In the past we had very many containers at the port which were not paying taxes but the situation has changed. We rather have few ships docking and paying requisite taxes," he observed. Dr Magufuli dared importers fond of evading taxes to use other ports outside Tanzania if they were not willing to pay the taxes. Finance and Planning Minister Philip Mpango introduced the VAT on tourism services when presenting budget estimates for the financial year 2016/2017 in Dodoma last month. However, since then players in the industry have been complaining that the new duty would harm the booming industry.

The declaration by President Magufuli will now close the chapter and operators in the industry will be required to pay the duty. Just recently, the Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Dr Charles Tizeba, maintained that the 18 per cent VAT on tourism services will not harm the growth of the sector as it was carefully researched before it was introduced.

Dr Tizeba explained that all key stakeholders in the sector were consulted before the new tax was introduced and were satisfied that it would not cripple the sector which is leading in foreign exchange earnings in Tanzania.

"The government is aware of the competitive environment among the East African Community member states and the country's weaknesses and strengths in the sector... this matter should not be used to mislead people because it may send wrong signal to stakeholders," he said.

Mr Tizeba further explained that Tanzania's tourism was different from other countries like South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya, noting: "While Kenya is leading in number of tourists visiting the country, Tanzania earns from the sector more than Kenya."

He observed that, before the Finance Act was endorsed by Members of Parliament, key players were involved in every aspect as budget preparations passed through various stages.

A South African Trying to Summit Mount Kilimanjaro to Mark Mandela Day has Died.

A statement from the Nelson Mandela Foundation said details are "sketchy" but that it appeared Gugu Zulu had problems breathing early Monday as his group tried to reach Africa's highest peak.

"We are informed that the medical teams tried everything possible to save his life" as they tried to descend, the statement said. The foundation said the athlete was part of a Trek4Mandela team hoping to summit to mark Mandela's birthday, a day of volunteer service in South Africa. Authorities said they were climbing in support of girls from disadvantaged communities.

In his last Facebook post, Gugu Zulu on Saturday said, "Am having flu like symptoms and struggling with the mountain but taking it step by step!! Today we managed to see our destination and our camp is literary above the clouds!!"

He was hiking with his wife, Letshego, who descended the 5,895-meter (19,340-foot) mountain with him, the foundation said. South Africa's sports ministry called Gugu Zulu a "great talented motorsport athlete who excelled on the race course."

Gugu had been unwell and received medical attention. He developed complications on Sunday evening.

A powerful shriek by Letshego echoed through the dormitories at Kibo Camp at the foot of Kilimanjaro after she discovered that he wasn’t breathing. This is the venue where 43 climbers had gathered to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s birthday and raise funds to buy sanitary pads for poor girls.

Forty climbers - minus the Zulus - went up Kilimanjaro at midnight on Sunday. They came down yesterday to the devastating news of the passing of Gugu. Climbers spoke about their last moments with Gugu Zulu.

As we prepare to celebrate Gugu’s life, I am haunted by the image of a young, African wife and mother running alongside a bicycle - crying and praying for her husband’s life.

Maghembe’s Mismanagement: Is One Minister Threatening Tanzania’s Reputation?

The new government of President John Magufuli in Tanzania has earned praise on issues ranging from corruption to stopping ivory trafficking. And he has helped change the tone of Tanzanian politics, encouraging politicians to be less self-serving.

But the world headlines about Tanzania recently have not reflected that positive change. The most prominent headline this week is The Telegraph declaring: “’Disaster’ for safaris in Tanzania as government unleashes tourism tax.” This came about after the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism failed to give adequate notice of a change in taxation of tourism. While the tax may or may not be appropriate, the Ministry provided no notice, throwing the entire important economic sector into a “complete and unmitigated disaster.” The market for wildlife tourism in Africa is competitive   if this action by the Ministry scares operators and tourists, they can easily chose to go to Kenya or South Africa.

The problem with this tax announcement from the wildlife perspective is that tourism income is the main vehicle to finance conservation in the country. When the elephant population is already in steep decline because of poaching, a reduction in anti-poaching funding could speed up the possible extinction of elephants from Tanzania.

Last week, the headline was the Washington Post: “Tanzania gives hunting permit to a firm despite video of animal abuse.” This came about after  you guessed it   the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism allowed a United Arab Emirates company with a known criminal history to begin operating again in the country after what most news reports have said we’re bribes paid to Ministry officials. The company was previously kicked out of the country for “appalling” violations of Tanzania’s laws.

The common theme in all these bad headlines for Tanzania is the new Minister of Natural Resources, Jumanne Maghembe. In the case of the Telegraph report, Maghembe is guilty of simple incompetence for not planning ahead for the impact of tax changes on the tourism industry. In the case of the Washington Post report, Maghembe is allegedly guilty of much worse, including accepting bribes from a United Arab Emirates’ businessman in exchange for giving conservation land and hunting permits to rich poachers, according to experts cited in the story. The exact nature of any bribes has not yet been made public   but in the age of the Panama Papers and transparency organisations, it is perhaps only a matter of time.

Tanzania has significant promise   but someone one single Minister is limiting that progress. If Tanzania is to move forward economically, its time for Maghembe to step down.

The risk for Tanzania of course is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. If these two crises were created by the Minister in one month, what is next?

Tourists Canceling Trips to Tanzania

 

European tourists enjoy consumer protection second to none when it comes to their rights, and Tanzania is about to find out how they and their tour operators react to the folly of slapping VAT on tourism services. Tanzania's Finance Minister has introduced the tax in his budget speech, but the brunt of the dissent is now backfiring at Prof. Maghembe, the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, for not just abandoning his sector, but in a show of arrogance turning against the tourism industry, claiming tourists will have nowhere else to go.

Well, that notion is now being put firmly to rest as several European tour operator and travel agency associations have challenged the Tanzanian government to either lift the VAT or else they will rebook their clients to other African destinations. Sources from within Tanzania are already counting their losses, as cancellations are pouring in thick and fast from tourists who are not ready to pay several hundred dollars extra for a visit to Tanzania.

Sources close to the main tour operator association, Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO) in fact claim that their members have received way over a thousand cancellations and that the trend is accelerating for trips within the timeframe European tourists have to cancel their trips in case of price increases.

Kenya suffered a similar trend two years ago when the Kenyan government would not listen and an equally hapless tourism minister there also failed to stand up in cabinet and fight for the sector, offering similar lame excuses. The downturn in Kenya at the time accelerated, when into a time of down-turn the prices for safaris and beach vacations went up, before over the past six months a series of expensive but absolutely necessary financial incentives had to be launched to revive the tourism industry.

Kenya's tourism industry at the time was faced with the double whammy of anti-travel advisories and tax increases, leading key European tour operators to divert safari business at the time to Tanzania at the expense of Kenya while Zanzibar became en vogue in Europe while Mombasa's resorts remained empty.

Today, the boot has shifted to another foot as Tanzania is now faced with a similar exodus and the migration of business to neighboring Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and even as far as South Africa and Zimbabwe, where the cost of holidays is more affordable, in the case of South Africa aided by record low exchange rates of the rand versus major currencies.

Experience over the years tells that once a destination is in the bad books with European tour operators, it is very difficult to make up lost ground and only at a very substantial expense, as is seen presently in Kenya.

As European tourists are protected against price increases for half a year, in some cases longer, their travel agent or tour operator would have to absorb the taxes, or else their Tanzanian safari operator, something impossible to achieve without bankrupting them.

It remains to be seen if TATO's and the Hotel Association of Tanzania’s (HAT)'s appeals to the Tanzanian President Magufuli will yield results, but if not, dark clouds will begin to fly over Tanzania's tourism industry, safari and beach alike, until the lesson has been taught and has reached the heads of those responsible for this economic atrocity.

Tanzania's Tourism Industry now Hopes for Presidential Intervention over VAT

Relations between the Tanzanian tourism fraternity and their tourism minister Prof. Maghembe have reached a new low, posing a challenge to the politician as alienating his sector may make it difficult if not impossible to effectively manage the industry.

He got into the bad books over his insistence that heaping an 18 percent value added tax on tourism services will be OK as, in his own words 'where will they go' referring to tourists as if they have no choice. 

While in Kenya the VAT on tourism services was lifted, following the devastating impact the measure had on the tourism industry over the past two years, did Tanzania's Finance Minister Dr. Mpango the opposite, clearing ignoring expert advice and the negative example of how this worked out in Kenya.

The tourism sector in Tanzania, following a meeting of over 500 stakeholders over the weekend, has now resolved to appeal directly to President John Magufuli to remove the contentious clause from the Finance Bill 2016, a move which is a resounding vote of no confidence in their tourism minister.

Kenyan tourism stakeholders were swift in supporting their Tanzanian counterparts, recalling the problems their 16 percent VAT created through higher prices for safari and holiday packages and sympathized with their colleagues who are now faced with the prospect of learning the hard way what misguided political action can mean for an already struggling tourism industry.

Reportedly have sections of the tourism fraternity in Tanzania also lobbied to take the matter to court and get an injunction, but first indications are that the cost for safaris, including park entrance fees, has risen since the 01st of July by a staggering 18 plus percent, as commissions need to be built into safari prices and the new VAT factored in.

Count on safari packages going up by about 20 percent' said a regular source from Arusha before adding 'This will out price us in comparison with for instance Kenya but also with other safari countries like Zimbabwe, where they are just lifting the 15 percent VAT on accommodation. When we lose business and the statistics back us up, who is to blame? Of course government and these ignorant and arrogant ministers who cannot see what damage VAT on tourism services has done elsewhere'.