TANZANIA (eTN) – The Tanzanian parliament is set to discuss the annual budget for the Ministry of Tourism this week, ahead of the first Pan African Conference on Sustainable Tourism Management in National Parks and Protected Areas to be held in Tanzania’s northern tourist city of Arusha.
Reports from Tanzania’s designated political capital of Dodoma said the members of parliament will discuss on Friday the document for the annual budget of the Ministry of Tourism to be tabled before the parliament by Tanzanian Tourism Minister Khamis Kagasheki.
Tourism development, wildlife protection, hotel and tourist business gains are the major areas set for discussion during the session in which the minister and his juniors will speak out about key issues affecting tourism in Tanzania and the way forward.
Leading public tourist institutions to be discussed during the session are the Tanzania National Parks, Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority, and the Tanzania Tourist Board.
Right now, the number of tourists visiting Tanzania is on the significant rise. Over the last 10 years, this African safari destination registered a growth of 65 percent of international tourist arrivals. In 2011, Tanzania received 867,994 tourists out of which 54 percent arrived in the country by air, Kagasheki said recently.
The annual budget of the Tourism Ministry will be discussed ahead of the First Pan-African Conference on Sustainable Tourism Management in National Parks and Protected Areas with a theme, “Challenges and Opportunities,” to be held in the northern Tanzania city of Arusha from October 15-18 this year.
The conference is being organized by the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in collaboration with the Tanzanian Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. UNWTO Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai is expected to attend the conference.
Nature-based tourism or eco-tourism is a large and growing global industry, partially dependent upon the attributes of the natural environment and biodiversity wildlife and scenery, which represent one of Africa’s strategic competitive advantages as a destination.
The conference aims to encourage a professional approach to better position “park tourism” as one of the core components of overall national park management in Africa and to acquire an overview of the current challenges in terms of the demand and supply chain.
Furthermore, new partnerships and business models shall impulse re-engineering of park management structures in order to maximize the economics and social benefits to the local communities.
