Arusha — Tanzania has started to formulate new National Tourism Policy to replace the old one which has existed for more than 18 years.
The revelation was made by Deputy Permanent Secretary (DPS) in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr Aloyce Nzuki, while meeting different stakeholders who had gathered here to review the National Tourism Policy of 1999.
He said drafting of the new National Tourism Policy will consider issues on Conference Tourism, Historical and Cultural Heritage Sites, Eco-Tourism, Beach Tourism and Tourism Supply Chain among others.
"For many years, Tanzanian tourism sector has banked heavily on wildlife based safaris, forgetting that the world is changing and people need other attractions such as cultural tourism, visiting historical sites, ecotourism, conference tourism and water based visits featuring beach lazing and sun basking," Dr Nzuki stressed
He further said they were reviewing the 1999 National Tourism Policy to come up with a new document that will serve as a guideline towards improving the country's tourism industry in the coming years.
Commenting on the review, a Tour Operator, Mr Leopold Kabendera, who is also an expert in the tourism industry, from the Northern Zone, said a lot has changed since 1999 when the first National Tourism Policy was launched in the country.
"We are now experiencing advanced technology, faster means of communications, different types of tourists, new types of demand and interests as well as wider choice of destinations all of which need to be covered under the proposed new tourism policy," he pointed out. Mr Kabendera hinted that it was high time the country motivated many nationals to turn up as domestic tourists in its sites, instead of depending solely on foreign visitors.
"Tanzania is reported to be getting around 1.2 million tourists who visit it every year, where about 80 per cent of them, nearly 900,000 end up in the Northern Zone Circuit, mostly the Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti National Park and Mount Kilimanjaro..., this is despite the fact that the country boasts of 16 National Parks scattered nationwide," he added without explaining further.
Under the new tourism policy, the government and other stakeholders will devise ways to ensure that foreign visitors also get time to visit other attraction sites in the Southern Circuit and Western Peninsular, the operator said.
He said they will also be tasked to find new ways of increasing the number of foreign tourists from other parts of the worlds, instead of relying mostly on the ones who come from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and India.
The revelation was made by Deputy Permanent Secretary (DPS) in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr Aloyce Nzuki, while meeting different stakeholders who had gathered here to review the National Tourism Policy of 1999.
He said drafting of the new National Tourism Policy will consider issues on Conference Tourism, Historical and Cultural Heritage Sites, Eco-Tourism, Beach Tourism and Tourism Supply Chain among others.
"For many years, Tanzanian tourism sector has banked heavily on wildlife based safaris, forgetting that the world is changing and people need other attractions such as cultural tourism, visiting historical sites, ecotourism, conference tourism and water based visits featuring beach lazing and sun basking," Dr Nzuki stressed
He further said they were reviewing the 1999 National Tourism Policy to come up with a new document that will serve as a guideline towards improving the country's tourism industry in the coming years.
Commenting on the review, a Tour Operator, Mr Leopold Kabendera, who is also an expert in the tourism industry, from the Northern Zone, said a lot has changed since 1999 when the first National Tourism Policy was launched in the country.
"We are now experiencing advanced technology, faster means of communications, different types of tourists, new types of demand and interests as well as wider choice of destinations all of which need to be covered under the proposed new tourism policy," he pointed out. Mr Kabendera hinted that it was high time the country motivated many nationals to turn up as domestic tourists in its sites, instead of depending solely on foreign visitors.
"Tanzania is reported to be getting around 1.2 million tourists who visit it every year, where about 80 per cent of them, nearly 900,000 end up in the Northern Zone Circuit, mostly the Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti National Park and Mount Kilimanjaro..., this is despite the fact that the country boasts of 16 National Parks scattered nationwide," he added without explaining further.
Under the new tourism policy, the government and other stakeholders will devise ways to ensure that foreign visitors also get time to visit other attraction sites in the Southern Circuit and Western Peninsular, the operator said.
He said they will also be tasked to find new ways of increasing the number of foreign tourists from other parts of the worlds, instead of relying mostly on the ones who come from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and India.
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