Europeans, Asians should also have Tanzania on 'bucket list'

By Editor

Editorial cartoon

The news that there has been an increase of seven percent in the number of tourists from the US who visited Tanzania last year will no doubt be good news to every citizen of this country.

 

More will it be to those whose main docket is to attract tourists to see the wonders of the world that are solely located in this country. 

 

We say so because there are countries which had a wide variety of tourist attractions, like wild animals, but these are no longer there.

 

There might be many and varied reasons for this, like wanton poaching that decimated the wild animals. But Tanzania still has the widest variety that cannot be seen in any part of the world.

 

Small wonder, therefore, that American tourists have made Tanzania their ‘bucket list’ where they can visit national parks to see these wild animals in their natural habitat. 

According to the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB), the number of tourists from the US who visited the country increased from 65,110 in 2012 to 69,671 in 2013.

 

This made US the second country in the number of tourists visiting Tanzania from the whole world. The increase, though some would regard as modest, is attributed to intensive marketing efforts which have been made in recent years by the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB).  

 

It is also attributed to improved infrastructure like roads and communication generally as well as hotel accommodation.

 

This is important, for tourists usually have to save their hard-earned money. Therefore when they come to Tanzania they would like to enjoy their holidays in a cool and friendly atmosphere. 

 

But what is more important is perhaps the peace that this country has been having for all these years since Tanzania got its independence in December 1961.

 

A look at the countries that surround us brings this fact to bear. In addition to Tanzania having the most unique wild animals like elephants, lions, buffaloes and rhinos, it is clearly the most peaceful among the East, Central and Southern African countries.

Tanzania’s peace is clearly the most important edge over other African countries in the tourist league.

 

For the fact is that no tourist would want to visit a country where his safety is not guaranteed. Yes, tourists are attracted by the variety of wild animals that a country has, but they would not go to a country where gunshots are the order of the day.

 

That said, however, we should not be complacent. There is always more to be done to attract tourists from not only the US, but other areas of the globe as well like the Scandinavian countries, Europe and China. Just like the US, there is a need to see that citizens in those countries also have Tanzania on their ‘bucket list’.

 

However, in addition to roping in more tourists, we should also improve the country’s communication infrastructure like the railway system, roads and telecommunication.

All said, we think that we are on the right track, but we should move ahead and do everything in our power to attract more tourists.