WOMEN operators in tourism industry will meet for a one-day symposium dubbed 'Women in Tourism 2018' in Serengeti National Park this week to discuss the role of women in society and participation of women in the labour market.

The meeting will be held on February 25 this year, in Asilia's Dunia Camp, an all female operated property in the Serengeti National Park.The event is being organised by Hotels Association of Tanzania in collaboration with association of Women in Tourism Tanzania (AWOTTA) and Tanzania Tourism Board (TTB). The Chief Executive Officer of the Hotels Association of Tanzania (HAT), Ms Nura-Lisa Karamagi, said yesterday that the occasion will bring together women from private and public sectors who are in the tourism industry to discuss and share experiences about the barriers and challenges facing women in the industry and how they are being overcome.

"The forum is meant to show the public that women play a significant role in the growth and development of tourism sector and are continuously challenging themselves to even greater roles - especially ones that have been traditionally thought to be the reserved for men --- from aviation to game ranging. Their potential to make meaningful contribution to the growth of the sector should not be underestimated," she stressed.

The Serengeti symposium is planned to be a curtain-raiser for this year's annual International Women's Day that will be celebrated next month. The theme for this year's international women's day is to Press for Progress. The seminars will discuss barriers inhibiting women from taking up potential opportunities to advance themselves in the sector and how Tanzania can advance initiatives being taken to change the stereotypes surrounding the role of women in society.

The host of the event, Dunia camp, is one of the unique examples of a camp that is breaking some of the stereotypes. The CEO said women around the world have more choices now but are still under represented in many levels. She commended the fact that women are holding top positions but, she added that "the positions do not necessarily come with the authority to make decisions.

" In Tanzania, she explained, unemployment for women stands at 12.3 per cent as against 8.2 per cent for men. In cities unemployment for women stands at 32 per cent while that for men is 11 per cent.

She said in Tanzania tourism industry is the second largest service sector that has enormous potential to employ and empower women even in positions that have traditionally been considered for men.

The symposium will draw women from the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, the Ministry for Education and Vocational Training, Tanzania Tourism Board (TTB), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, TANAPA, NCAA, TAWA.

Tanzania plans to Construct 15 Airstrips to serve Southern Tourism Circuit

A Tanzanian senior official said on Wednesday the government planned to construct 15 airstrips in the southern circuit of the east African country to boost tourism.

Hamisi Kigangwalla, Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, said the construction of the airstrips will go in tandem with the diversification of tourist attraction centers.

"The southern tourist circuit is overwhelmed with too many attractions. It needs to be improved to attract more tourists from across the world," Kigwangalla told the National assembly in the capital Dodoma.

The minister said the government's focus for now was to develop the southern tourism circuit and look for other tourism products across the country.

He said airstrips to be built at four national parks in the southern tourism circuit will facilitate smooth transport services to local and foreign tourists.

Kigwangalla said the airstrips will be built at the Selous Game Reserve, the Ruaha National Park, the Mikumi National Park and the Udzungwa Mountains National Park.

Kigwangalla, responding to a number of issues raised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Lands, Natural Resources and Tourism, said improvement of the southern circuit will also involve construction of a road from Iringa town to the entrance of the Ruaha National Park.

He told the House that tourism was among the number one sectors with huge contributions to the country's foreign currency earnings, adding that in the 2016/2017 financial year tourism contributed 2.1 billion U.S. dollars.

He said the tourism sector contributed 17.6 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and 12 percent of employment.

Kemilembe Lwota, the vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Lands, Natural Resources and Tourism, faulted the government over poor marketing strategies to advertise the country's tourist attractions within and outside the country.

Lwota said it was high time the government put in place strategies to identify, improve and market tourist attractions to be able to get intended revenues.

Tanzania - President Magufuli Launched the new Passport

President John Magufuli became the first Tanzanian to get the document at a ceremony when he launched the new EA e-passport at the immigration headquarters in Dar es Salaam.

The issuance of the e passports is part of a wider strategy by the region to enhance integration with the passports set to be rolled out in other EAC countries in the coming months. Nearly 50 African countries have issued e-passports to their citizens including Ghana, Gabon, Egypt, Morocco and Mauritius The 35th EAC Council of Ministers which convened on April 4, last year, directed partner states to begin issuing EA e-passport from January 31, 2018, the EAC heads of state equally approved the decision.

Yesterday, the Minister for Home Affairs, Dr Mwigulu Nchemba handed over e-passports to top government officials led by President Magufuli and Zanzibar President Dr Ali Mohammed Shein.

Dr Magufuli launched the new passport at a function that was attended by top government leaders and retired presidents. The difference between the current passport and the e-passport is that the e-passport has a chip that stores the passport holder’s bio-metric information. According to Dr Nchemba, Tanzanian passport holders will now be required to replace the documents with electronic ones and that applicants will now be required to pay 150,000/- to get the newly improved document.

“In order to avoid the mistakes we made by issuing passports to non-citizens, this time around, we will start the process afresh and a person who wants to possess the new document will have to bringthe National Identity Card,” he added.

The Minister insisted, however, that the current ones will remain in use for two years until January 2020, before they are phased out. The international travel document will have diplomatic, service and ordinary categories and will be valid for 10 years. Among the reasons the EAC is launching electronic passports are to step up the war against terrorism and keep abreast with technological advancements globally.

According to Dr Nchemba, the new document has more pages than the current one and with improved security features; it will be easier for Tanzanians who lose their passports while abroad to get immediate assistance from Tanzanian embassies. In her remarks, the Immigration Department Commissioner General Dr Anna Makakala said Tanzania had fully complied with standards and guidelines set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and EAC Chief of Immigration on travel document design, processing and issuance.

She said the immigration had already initiated e-passport online application forms that enable every Tanzanian from around the world to apply for the new document. However, the Commissioner General noted, those who wish to collect registration forms from all immigration offices were allowed to do so.

On revenue collection, Dr Makakala said her institution had managed to increase revenue collection, saying that between July and December 2017, the immigration department collected 85.6bn/- , adding that with the ongoing reforms revenue collection will equally go up.