- Tourism industry is a key economic sector for both Tanzania and Kenya.
- Both the countries have decided to form a committee to identify how to promote co-operation in the tourism sector.
The tourism industry is a key economic sector for both Tanzania and Kenya. Both the countries have decided to form a committee to identify how to promote co-operation in the tourism sector. The decision was taken at a high-level recent meeting of ministers/cabinet secretaries responsible for Tourism and senior officials from both sides in Arusha.
The committee will identify and address the impediments to the growth of the key economic sector and also come up with recommendations to ensure more tourist flow to the two countries in particular and the East African region in general. The group of technical experts will draft a road map on how to improve the cooperation of the two countries and attract more foreign tourists.
The recommendations would be forwarded to the ministers for their approval. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will also be drafted on the same. Speaking at the meeting, the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Damas Ndumbaro said Tanzania said that after the recommendations are finalised, both ministers will meet to agree on the way forward. For Tanzania, the sector contributed 21.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 25 percent of forex generation prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, he added.
Tanzania will be hosting the first East African Community (EAC) Tourism Expo next month. Tanzania is also set to host a high-level meeting on tourism under the auspices of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN-WTO) next year.
Speaking on the occasion, Kenya’s cabinet secretary for Tourism and Wildlife Najib Balala appealed for the revival of the 1985 tourism cooperation framework between the two countries. He pointed out that Tanzania earned more than $2billion in 2019, while Kenya’s tourism generated about $1.6billion in tourist receipts. The EAC deputy secretary-general (Planning and Finance) Steven Mlote advised Tanzania and Kenya to agree on the movement of tourists across borders to boost the sector.
According to the EAC secretariat in Arusha, the East African region expects to receive 3.75 million foreign tourists this year. The number of visitors had reached a record 6.9 million in 2019 before the pandemic but dropped sharply to 2.25 million last year. The majority of foreign tourists to EA normally head to Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda and a few to Burundi and South Sudan.
