AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB), has urged on the need to encourage locals to visit tourist attractions and reduce dependency on foreign tourists who have decreased due to Covid-19 pandemic.
The statement issued by the TTB Chairman (retired), Judge Thomas Mihayo said much effort is needed in promoting domestic and regional tourism which is a key of tourism revenue.
He made the remarks yesterday in Dar es Salaam during the opening of a conference of Tanzania’s ambassadors from Asia and Australia which was hosted by TTB.
According to Judge Mihayo the aim of the meeting is to activate plans and put strategies consistent into action during this period where the whole has changed due to Covid-19.
“These are unprecedented times and we therefore need to take unprecedented measures,” he said.
The TTB Boss said, “It is our hope that through this meeting, our ambassadors will give us experience from their area of representation to know what techniques are used in promoting domestic tourism.”
He noted that, for example, the strategy put in place by the Vietnamese and Chinese governments to stimulate the domestic tourism market, we can officially get from our embassy so that we can use those techniques in our country.
“We believe after this tension ends the tourism business will continue and our primary role is to ensure that Tanzania continues to be heard globally,” said Judge Mihayo.
In March 2020, the United Nation World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) issued a detailed report on the effect of covid-19 on the world of tourism industry.
The report showed that the number of tourists in the world dropped by 20 per cent to 30 per cent within this tourist season.
He added that the rate would result in a deficit of income about 300 to 450 billion US dollars, which is a worldwide estimate.
According to him, while delivering a budget speech in May this year, the Minister for Natural Resource and Tourism, Dr Hamis Kigwangala presented a figure detailing the decline in tourism revenue in the country; He quotes that, “the number of direct jobs in the tourism sector will be expected to drop from 622,000 to 146,000.
“The number of tourists who are expected will drop from 1,867,000, to 437,000 tourists. Due to that case, government revenues from the tourism sector will drop from 2.7tri/- to 598bn/-. This is the local assessment for Tanzania, “Minister said.
He further called on ambassadors to reach out to influential people, celebrities, musicians, politicians who have ever visited Tanzania to continue to post pictures of their favourite events on the sites they visited and post on social media.
