Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa has called upon Israeli tourists to become Tanzania's ambassadors in and outside their home country by marketing the country's tourism sector.
Mr Majaliwa said this on the occasion bidding farewell to 274 Israeli tourists, part of the 1,000 tourists, who spent seven days in the country's national parks and Zanzibar.
The event took place at Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) yesterday before the tourists boarded their Israel Airlines planes back home.
The PM conveyed to the Israelis greetings from President John Magufuli and Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan, thanking them for making Tanzania their first tourism destination by visiting Serengeti National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Arusha National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Zanzibar, among other tourist attractions.
He said the government would strengthen relations with Israel and called upon potential investors to come and invest in the tourism sector, as the country still had a lot of opportunities as it sought to unlock the tourism potential, especially in the southern circuit.
"Tanzania still has plenty of opportunities in the tourism sector and we call upon you to be our good ambassadors when you are back.
We welcome Israelis and other people in the world to come and invest in the sector of tourism, especially now that we want to unlock the southern circuit," said Mr Majaliwa.
The record number of tourists from one country at ago comes nearly two years since Tanzania opened its embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, thanks to the Tanzanian Embassy staff and Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) in collaboration with other stakeholders.
The visit saw planes bring them in the country on April 20, as 150 other Israelis left the country after seven days of the visit. The first group of the 1,000 tourists left on Friday night, the second yesterday afternoon, the third at 4pm and the last one at 8pm
The PM was flanked by Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr Hamisi Kigwangalla, TTB Chairman Judge (retired) Thomas Mihayo, TTB Managing Director Devotha Mdachi, Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner (RC) Anna Mghwira and Arusha RC Mrisho Gambo, among other leaders.
Mr Majaliwa called upon the tourists to be back in the country so that they could explore more opportunities and enjoy the nature in other national parks such as Gombe, Tarangire, Mkomazi, Saanane Island, Mikumi, Ruaha as well as the roof of Africa - Mount Kilimanjaro.
He hailed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his re-election to the post recently. The PM said the two countries enjoyed warm relations, pledging to further strengthen cooperation with Mr Netanyahu's government.
Speaking on the same occasion, Ms Mdachi said they were planning a visit to Israel and Jordan to further pursue their people to come for tourism purposes.
The director said they would also be seeking to bring journalists from the two countries that would be relaying messages and selling Tanzania in terms of tourist attractions when they were back.
She said attention would also be directed towards Asia and Europe and expectations were to get more tourists from next month, with about 300 Israelis on line.
Minister Kigwangalla pledged that the government and its people would continue protecting natural resources so Tanzania retained its place as one of the world's most attractive countries in terms of tourism.
He said the Israelis came in huge numbers at a time when the government was rebranding its tourism sector so that Tanzania was unforgettable.
Some of the tourists from Israel said they were greatly moved by tourist attractions they had visited and promised to be back in the future.
Ms Naomi Peer Moscovich and her daughters Dana and Lihi said were impressed with a huge number of wildlife as well as hospitality from Tanzanians.
No comments:
Post a Comment