AfricaPress-Tanzania: TOURISM stakeholders in the country have been advised to create marketing synergy between Mount Kilimanjaro tour packages and Mkomazi National Park both in Kilimanjaro Region to draw in more tourists, and investors, to the latter.
This follows revelations by the Mkomazi National Park Assistant Conservation Commissioner, Adel Mtui that the national park spends 2bn/-while it generates an average of 250m/-annually.
Located in north-eastern Tanzania in Kilimanjaro and Tanga regions, and upgraded as a national park in 2006, it is home to a Rhino Sanctuary which hosts breeding black rhinoceros, giving the park international recognition but still not receiving enough visitors.
Mr Mtui imputed the small number of visitors to low investment, mostly in accommodation, noting that at the moment there is only one camp which can host twelve guests at a time.
“We have allocated areas where tourists and visitors can set up camp but we need more investments in the national park because that would bring more visitors,” he added.
He noted that it is a no-brainer that investors would want a return on their investments and thus naturally would also come up with strategies to attract visitors to their accommodation facilities.
Mr Mtui thus called on investors to take advantage of the existing shortage of accommodation facilities in the national park to come and invest because they are well prepared to receive new investors and competition is minimal.
He was speaking during a recent tour of the national park by Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), Executive Director, Geoffrey Mwambe, who advised stakeholders to include the park’s attractions in holiday and tour packages of Mount Kilimanjaro to give the former more visibility to visitors planning to trek the latter and in the process also attract investors.
Mount Kilimanjaro attracts a huge number of tourists annually thus blending the marketing strategies of the two attractions would help publicize further the national park and increase revenue collection from the tourism sector in the country.
“Mkomazi Park has many tourist attractions, including a wide diversity of fauna, including the big five, investors would greatly benefit if they choose to come to invest here,” he said.
“We believe that huge investments are needed in the tourism sector especially in our national parks because the opportunities and resources are there and we have been observing how Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA), has been allocating areas where investors could come and invest,” he added.
He also called on regional authorities to pinpoint investment opportunities in their areas so that TIC could come up with proper strategies to attract investors.
“It is difficult to convince investors, but where there are preparations the task is made easier because we will be aware of where an investor can come to invest and what are the procedures and regulations involved,” Mwambe said.
