TANZANIANS URGED TO USE FIRST PAN AFRICAN TOURISM CONFERENCE TO MARKET TOURISM INDUSTRY.

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The Minister for Natural Resource and Tourism Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki (left) and the Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Taleb Rifai at the Headquarters of UNWTO in Madrid, Spain. (Picture by Pascal Shelutete).



The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism (second left) leading a Tanzanian delegation in a discussion with the secretariat of the UNWTO in Madrid, Spain. (Picture by Pascal Shelutete).



The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki (fourt left) with the secretariat of the UNWTO led by Secretary General Taleb Rifai (fifth left) at the UNWTO Headquarters in Madrid, Spain. (Picture by Pascal Shelutete).

The Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization Mr. Taleb Rifai has urged Tanzanians to use the first forthcoming Pan African Conference to promote tourist attractions in the country. The call was made here yesterday when he met the Tanzanian Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki.

Mr. Rifai who welcomed Ambassador Kagasheki in to the UNWTO Headquarters in Madrid said that this is the golden opportunity for Tanzanians to disclose its tourism potential to the more than 350 participants of the conference which will be held from 15th-18th October this year in Tanzania’s tourism hub, Arusha.

‘Tourism industry is the future of the economy of Tanzania and therefore opportunities like this one must be effectively used by tourism stakeholders in the country to showcase what they could offer to the world so as to increase the number of tourist arrivals in the country which is now below one million a year,` said Rifai.

He further told Ambassador Kagasheki and his delegation that tourism sector in the country should be taken seriously as the more you invest on it the more the positive impact will appear in the country’s economy. Rifai stressed that UNWTO will offer maximum support to Tanzania to ensure that it attains its goal of reaching a number of one million tourist arrivals in a short period of time and mentioned the upcoming conference as an opening of a new chapter between his body and the government of Tanzania.

On his part, Ambassador Kagasheki welcome the initiative by UNWTO to choose Tanzania as a host country of the said conference the first ever in Africa and pledged his maximum support to ensure that the conference attains its goals.

‘The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania will work hard to ensure that the conference bear fruitful results to the tourism sector in the country` committed Ambassador Kagasheki.

Ambassador Kagasheki told the UNWTO Secretariat that Tanzania has all the potentialities as far as tourist attractions is concerned and ensured the body that the government will work closely with the private sector in the country to keep the ball rolling for the betterment of the country’s economy.

Ambassador Kagasheki and his delegation made a visit to UNWTO Headquarters to discuss among other issues the preparation status of the forthcoming conference.

The First Pan African Conference with a focus on Challenges and Opportunities on Sustainable Tourism Management in African National Parks and Protected Areas to be held in Arusha in Mid October this year will look in to the balance between environmental and cultural protection and tourism development specifically on policy and management issues as well as regulatory framework in order to sustain high quality visitor experience.

This focus is a result of the fact that despite high potential for a sustainable tourism development, many of Africa’s National Parks and Protected areas suffer from constraints and limitations concerning public policies, integrated planning, effective governance with the involvement of the private stakeholders, management and commercial skills, scientific expertise, infrastructure and transport, tourism product development, quality, consumer image and safety.

Various tourism experts and conservationists both locally and internationally will get chance to deliver their experiences in the fields of tourism and conservation and make a resolution on the way forward.