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.