Tanzania to Auction 3.5 Tonnes of Hippo Teeth

Tanzania is expected to auction 12,467 pieces of hippopotamus teeth weighing 3.58 tonnes on January 29, official said on Tuesday.

James Wakibara, Acting Director General of the Tanzania Wildlife Authority (TAWA), said in a statement that the auction will be held in collaboration with the country's Natural Resources and Tourism Ministry.

According to statistics from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), since the trade began in 1975, over 770,000 kg of hippo teeth have been traded internationally. And it is estimated that over 75 percent came from two East African countries: Tanzania and Uganda.

Wakibara said that the auction is to be held in the nation's commercial capital Dar es Salaam on January 29, and the exercise will be supervised by the Ministry of Finance Planning.

"The auction is restricted to accredited traders with the first-class license offered in 2017," a TAWA official said.

Wkibara informed that interested buyers will be entitled to initial payments of at least 25 percent of the total cost on the same day and settle the remained balance within 14 days.

Tanzania conducted a countrywide census on hippopotamus in 2001 and the result showed there were 20,079 of them.

However, issuance of permits for export of hippo teeth was suspended since 2004 with exception of those obtained through sports hunting.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature, which monitors the conservation status of species, classifies hippos as vulnerable because threats of illegal, unregulated trade in their teeth, demand for their meat, and habitat loss are likely to continue. 

Tanzanian Tour Operators Demand Single Online Tax Platform

Tanzanian Tour operators have implored the government to invent an online platform for all taxes to be done electronically with an eye to root out bureaucracy and ease compliance.

Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO) says that its members would like to pay all taxes in a single online platform to allow them ample time to search for business opportunities.

Representing over 300 tour operators, TATO is a leading lobby agency for a tourism industry that earns the country’s economy about $2.05 billion per annul, equivalent to 17 percent of the country’s GDP.

Highlighting key challenges facing the industry before the visiting deputy minister for Finance, Dr. Ashatu Kijaji, TATO Chairman, Mr Willbard Chambulo said multiple taxes compliance consumes a lot of time and money and could encourage tax evasion.

Available records indicate that tour operators are subjected to 37 different taxes, comprising business registration, regulatory licenses fees, entry fees, income taxes and duties for each tourist vehicle per annul, among others.

The TATO chairman argued that the contentious issue is not only how to pay myriad taxes and make profits, but also the modality and time spent in complying with intricate taxes.

“Tour operators need streamlining of taxes to ease compliance because the cost of compliance is so high and as such it acts as obstacle for voluntary compliance” Mr Chambulo explained.

Indeed, a study on Tanzanian tourism sector indicates that the administrative burdens of completing license tax and levy paperwork place a heavy cost on businesses in terms of time and money.

For instance, tour operator spends over four months to complete regulatory paperwork, whereas in tax and license paperwork consume his or her a total of 745 hours per year.

The report done by Tanzania Confederation of Tourism (TCT) and BEST- Dialogue, shows that average annual cost of personnel to complete regulatory paperwork per local tour operator is Tsh 2.9 million ($1,300) per year.

Tanzania is estimated a home to over 1,000 tour companies, but official data shows that there are as few as 330 formal firms complying with tax regime, which is likely to be due to the complexities of compliance.

This means that there could be 670 briefcase tour firms operating in Tanzania. Going by the annual license fee of $2000, it means that treasury loses $1.34 million annually.

TATO CEO, Mr Sirili Akko said: ‘No doubt that our members are compliant that is why they have audacity to request for a system which will relieve them of ‘long man hours’ in corridors of regulatory bodies. I am confident that our government will simplify payments systems for all government revenues including taxes as requested by private sector officials”

However, TATO hopes that the new system of issuing Tanzania Tourism Business License (TTBL) introduced by Natural Resources and Tourism Minister, Dr Hamis Kigwangala, would effectively bring informal tour operators into the tax net.

Late last year, Dr Kigwangala took a bold step in scrapping off the old $2,000 flat rate fee for TTBL for all local tour operators without considering the size and business of the company.

The Minister introduced a new category where TTBL fee for tour operators with between one and three tourist cars would be $500 in his efforts to spur the majority small scale tour operators to formalize their businesses and boost the tax base.

In her response, Dr Kijaji agreed with TATO’s chairman arguments, vowing that the government would work on system where businessmen would be paying all taxes under one roof to offer them a hassle free taxes compliance.

Tanzania Publishes New Fees for Tourism Players

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism has announced new fee rates and charges to be paid by tour operators and safari outfitters following the amendment of tourism fees and charges regulation.

According to a statement signed by the ministry's permanent secretary, Major General Gaudence Milanzi, the amendments have been gazetted in the Government Notice No. 506, December 29, 2017.

He said that for locals or companies whose majority shareholders are citizens owning at least one or three vehicles, they will be required to pay Tanzanian shillings equivalent to $500.

"Those with four up to 10 cars will be required to pay the equivalent of $2,000 and $3,000 for companies with 11 to 50 cars, while those with 51 and more cars, they will pay the fee of $5,000," he said.

In another development, the PS said that for non-citizens or companies whose majority shareholders are non-citizens, these will pay $5,000 for 10 to 30 cars.

While companies with 31 up to 50 cars will pay $7,500, and those with 51 and more cars will pay $10,000.

He said following the amendment, the existing 2017 business licences for tour operators and safari outfitters have been extended to January 31, 2018 to enable preparations for renewal under the new licence fee structure.

Major General Milanzi said applications for new business licence registration and for tour operators and safari outfitters for this year for both existing and new businesses are currently being received.

"All existing business are required to submit copies of vehicle registration as well as copies of business licence for the year 2017," he said.

December 10 and 11, last year, Tourism minister Hamisi Kigwangalla met with the sector stakeholders in Arusha to inform them of the new licence fees with the aim of increasing government revenues as well as including small firms with few cars in the business.

Global Travel Firm Lists Kenya and Tanzania Among Top 2018 Destinations

A global travel and leisure group has ranked Kenyan and Tanzanian parks among top 2018 destinations that offer most trans-formative travel experiences.

The Travel Corporation (TTC) mentioned the model of 11-day East African safari in urban Nairobi, which heads off to the game-rich grassy plains of Kenya’s Masai Mara and Tanzania’s Serengeti, among the 2018 top 10 list of trans-formative travel experiences. During the safari, guests stay in luxurious camps and participate in daytime and night-time game drives in search of predators and prey. The trip ends with a three-night seaside stay on the spice island of Zanzibar.

“Our guests are seeking worldwide journeys that are not only experiential but which also cultivate deeper connections with the places they are exploring and include meaningful interactions with nature, wildlife, local people and cultures,” said TTC chief executive Brett Tollman. The family-owned company, now in its fourth generation, offers more than 1,000 trips spanning 60 countries on six continents.

The company said this curated list of trips recognises that travellers no longer want to simply journey but also seek out adventures that are personally fulfilling and return home transformed with a positive perspective and an expanded view of the world.

They said they were also aware that guests want to connect with other like-minded travellers to discover and share these experiences together in “travel tribes”, which the company has been creating.

Destinations:

Other destinations mentioned include best of Norway Trafalgar, India’s golden triangle and the sacred Ganges River cruises, London to Berlin Contiki, European vacations, British Royale luxury gold, Australia journeys, the English Carnations Hotel, and the Rhine U. Kenya has for long been a top destination for safari seekers showcasing its wealth of wildlife.

Kenya Runs out of Wildlife Space

KENYA’s latest wildlife census -- held just last December – shows the country is currently ‘proud’ home to 7,347 elephants, citing a slight increase in the jumbo’s population.

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Ms Judy Wakhungu expressed concern that the country could no longer accommodate wildlife in the wake of an equally rising human population and related activities at the expense of natural reserves.

South of the border, in Tanzania, however where the number of elephants tips the 50,000-mark -- which is seven times more than Kenya’s – there’s also more land dedicated to wildlife conservation by a factor six. Dar-es-salaam, according to authorities, has more than enough space to accommodate all wildlife within its borders and works to increase the country’s wildlife Eco-system even further.

Tanzania has set aside over 265,000 sq km for wildlife conservation, or equivalent to 27 per cent of its total land area, while neighbouring Kenya to the north has just 44,600 sq km accounting for only 7.5 per cent of the country’s land mass.

The Director General for the newly established Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority Dr James Wakibara says here that, TAWA, which runs 28 game reserves and 46 Game Controlled Areas, so far covers over 200,000 sq km of land.

And, that’s discounting the 16 National Parks manned by the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) as well as the Ngorongoro Conservation being Conservation Area Authority (NCAA). Altogether, the 16 National Parks across the nation together cover an area of nearly 57,000 sq km while the Ngorongoro Conservation Area itself sits on an area measuring 8292 sq km.

In addition to National Parks, Game Reserves and Game Controlled Areas, Tanzania is establishing community-based Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) where villages pool land to create areas in which wildlife can thrive so that local residents could benefit from tourism activities.

Currently, there are 38 WMAs across the country, all at different stages of development of which 17 WMAs have attained Authorised Association (AAs) status. These will further add more land for wildlife in Tanzania. Tanzania has also gazetted nearly 20m ha of forests as forest reserves as well as 4.1m ha this are managed under Participatory Forest Management.