Tanzania: JPM - Tanzania Safe for Tourists

AS Tanzania continues to enjoy a growing number of international tourist arrivals, President John Magufuli has assured visitors that the country is safe from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The novel Coronavirus is still wreaking havoc across the globe but things look quite different in Tanzania, where everything, including social and economic activities, has long returned to normalcy.

The country has done a good job in controlling the deadly respiratory disease, with Covid-19 cases significantly reduced and most of the special Coronavirus care centers closed as a result.

And last month, the government announced to reopen the country for tourists under normal and regular 'pre-COVID-19' border rules and international travelers have responded positively to the decision.

Speaking yesterday shortly after a swearing-in event of the government officials, who were appointed last week, President Magufuli insisted the country was safe and urged tourists to visit the country's attractive destinations of their choice.

"Right now, there is an increase in the number of international airlines that have resumed their flights to Tanzania, bringing in tourists," said Dr Magufuli in a live broadcast from the Chamwino State House in Dodoma.

President Magufuli hailed the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism and the Tanzania Tourists Board (TTB) for continued efforts of marketing the country's tourism attractions and putting in place all preventive measures against further spread of the pandemic, in line with ensuring the safety of all tourists.

"TTB under the chairmanship of Judge (Rtd), Thomas Mihayo has put a lot of efforts that are now paying off, this is a good spirit that all of us would want to see," acknowledged the head of state.

"Tanzania is safe, that is why now there is no one who has put on facemask here, this is really encouraging," added the Head of State.

Among officials who were sworn in yesterday was the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr. Aloyce Nzuki and the Deputy Permanent Secretary, Dr. Allan Kijazi, who is also the Director-General of Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA).

During his speech, Dr. Magufuli instructed the duo to work hard, putting the national interest ahead of everything, as their docket is among the key drivers of the country's economy.

The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr. Hamisi Kigwangalla said in Dar es Salaam recently that currently, there are three airlines coming to Tanzania, naming them as Qatar, Ethiopian, and KLM Royal Dutch passenger flights, which resumed operations on July 1 this year.

"At the beginning, Qatar Airways was flying to Dar es Salaam three times a week, but now it has resumed weekly flights and it flies to Zanzibar four times a week," he added.

The minister further said that more airlines including Swiss Air and Emirates have also pledged to resume operations any time and this will increase the flow of visitors.

Dr. Kigwangalla was speaking at the opening of Covid-19 Preparedness and Response to aviation stakeholders meeting held at Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) and funded by the Federal Republic of Germany.

He said the government came up with the guidelines to protect both the public and visitors from the Covid-19 pandemic as it reopened its airspace.

"I call upon aviation stakeholders especially staff working at the major airports to observe the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)...you should not relax, because some of the visitors are coming with fear and stress, thus youth should build their trust and confidence by showing them how the country is serious in observing the required international standards," Dr. Kigwangalla said.

Tanzania Hunts for Tourist Hotel Investors in its new Capital

Tanzania government had set open investment space for high-class hotels in the new capital city Dodoma, targeting to attract international visitors and investors to the new capital, lacking reliable and adequate accommodation facilities.

The new capital city of Tanzania is lacking hotels with prestigious standards to accommodate diplomats, international business executives, and high-ranking officials touring the city for business, political and diplomatic gatherings.

Despite its current status, Dodoma has been developed with only three hotels of the Three Star Class. These are Fantasy Village (22 rooms), Nashera Hotel (52 rooms), and Dodoma Hotel (91 rooms).

Deputy Minister for Natural Resources Mr. Constantine Kanyasu had admitted to seeing the new capital city of Tanzania lacking international, Five Star hotels. Kanyasu said the government is now attracting investments in hotels, aiming to raise the status of the new capital.

Dodoma city has only 428 rooms in its 24 hotels offering standard accommodation of a Three Star Class. Kanyasu said that the government had allocated areas for construction of hotels and other tourist service facilities, aiming to raise the status of the new capital city of Tanzania.

Tanzania government had relocated its entire administrative political and government services to Dodoma with all ministries and key departments. Dar es Salaam, now Tanzania’s commercial city is the leading capital with 242 hotels of international standards, ranging from three to Five Star class.

There are 177 hotels rated One to Three Star Class, 31 Four Star Class, and 19 Five Star Class, all established in Dar es Salaam with about 24,000 rooms.

Tanzania is now targeting Conference and Meeting tourism to attract more visitors.

Currently, under implementation, Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) has targeted to attract conferences and business visitors to hold international conferences in Tanzania, aiming to pull participants who would book hotels, mostly in Dar es Salaam, Arusha and other cities including the new capital, Dodoma.

The Ministry of Tourism is working jointly with TTB to attract conferences and events to take place in Tanzania where participants would book hotels then attract more investments in the hotel industry to increase the number of bedrooms and conference facilities.

The Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC) and the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre in Dar es salaam are the two leading conference centers in Tanzania with capacities to hold several meetings at the same time. AICC has 10 meeting rooms with a seating capacity from 10 in the break-out rooms to 1,350 delegates in the main auditorium. The average total occupancy for all the meeting rooms when in use is about 2,500 delegates.

The Centre hosts an average of 100 meetings each year with a total average number of 11,000 conference delegates per year, mostly local meetings organized by the Tanzania government.

Regionally, Rwanda and South Africa have been rated the leading African nations in conference tourism with Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) blocs

Situated in the heart of Tanzania, Dodoma is the official capital of Tanzania. It has a population of over 400,000 people making it the fourth largest city in Tanzania and it is home to the country’s parliament. The city stands on the Great North Road that connects Cape Town in South Africa to Cairo in Egypt, famous for tourists driving from the southern point of Africa to the northern point of the continent.

Closer to Tanzania’s leading northern Tanzania tourist circuit and the Kenyan tourist capital Nairobi, Dodoma has been identified as a sleeping tourist investment area. Dodoma has a rich agricultural society and a budding wine industry, with small-scale farming being most dominant in the city. The sun-bathed landscape is impressive with a Safari feel to it. It has an abundance of sunshine all year round making worth a holiday breathtaking.

Lion Rock, an outcrop perching in the city outskirts, creating a beautiful natural attraction that brings memories of the famous cartoon, the Lion King. The rock gives an elevated view of Dodoma and is quite a breathtaking attraction. It is a favorite destination for families and friends.

Tanzania re-opens to Tourism - By ATTA®

Following meetings held on 11 and 12 May, the United Republic of Tanzania has announced that thanks to the decrease in COVID-19 cases tourism will restart in Tanzania from 18 May 2020. Since 18 May 2020, international commercial flight operations have been resumed.

All travelers, whether foreigners or returning residents entering or leaving the United Republic of Tanzania will be subjected to enhanced screening for COVID-19 infection. There will be no 14 days mandatory quarantine Strict infection Prevention and Control measures are still to be followed; physical distancing, hand hygiene, mask wear all remain mandatory.

All international arriving passengers shall dispose-off their masks after use during travel at designated waste collection containers upon arrival Airports will all have to install Sanitizers at multiple locations all arriving/departing air operators must provide advance passenger Information to allow the points of entry authorities to prevent possible high-risk passengers to conclude, tourism will re-start in Tanzania. The Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources will ensure that the health of Tanzanians is safe and a priority. Welcome to Tanzania and Tanzania Unforgettable!

Tanzania: New Tourism Promo Initiative Set for Launch in Dar

MINISTER for Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr. Hamisi Kigwangalla, is expected to launch a domestic promotion initiative, whose players will be key stakeholders in the tourism sector in Dar es Salaam on July 1, this year.

A press release issued in the city yesterday said the blueprint dubbed 'Domestic Tourism Promotion Initiative (DTPI)' targeted to raise the awareness of Tanzanians and foreigners living in the country on various touristic attractions available in the country.

"Our efforts are specifically designed to complement the government's efforts to promote domestic tourism and also mitigate the effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic, which has hit hard the tourism sector," said Steering Committee Chairman of the campaign Mkumbwa Ally in the press release.

He said the initiative was the joint effort between St Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) and Real PR Solutions, an integrated communications company with a specialty in public relations, government relations, corporate event management, and sports marketing, among other things.

He said the inauguration campaign under the theme "Utalii Mpya. Fursa Mpya" would also be attended by senior government officials and key stakeholders in the tourism sector such as the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB), Tanzania Tour Operators (TATO), and Tanzania Hotels Association.

Others are Tanzania Local Tour Operators (TLTO), Tanzania National Parks Authority (Tanapa), Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), Tanzania Tourism Confederation, Tanzania Private Sector Foundations, Tanzania Forest Service Agency (TFS), among others.

"We have also invited the Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports as well the Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children due to their key role in supporting the tourism sector," said Mr. Ally.

He highlighted some of the key features of the campaign to be conducted in phases as training of the youth across the country in various areas in the tourism value chain further citing them as basic skills on tour guide profession, porter services, customer service training in the hospitality industry such as hotels and restaurants, taxi operators and skills to open tour companies.

"This training to benefit over 100,000 people will focus on the unemployed youth from Form Four and above who have passion in the tourism sector, but lack knowledge on how to move forward. We will start rolling out this campaign in the Lake Zone, covering Mwanza,

Geita, Kagera, Simiyu, Mara, and Shinyanga, then move to other zones across the country. There will be also an array of cultural and sporting events which will form part of the campaign," noted the chairman.

Mr. Ally further noted that the events would be a forum to bring people together so that their businesses could re-open at full capacity and support the national economy and as well as sustain and create more jobs, while economies were still grappling with the coronavirus effects, adding: "all health precautions will be taken into account to control the spread of the coronavirus at all these events."