Longido — IN an
effort to spur tourism in the sprawling rural northern Tanzania, a
non-profit organisation has furnished the Longido Cultural Tourism
Program (LCTP) with the equipment to...
Oikos East Africa,
through the European Union funded Conserving Neighbouring Ecosystems in
Kenya and Tanzania (CONNEKT) project has supplied the state-of-the art
eco-tourism gears to support the Longido cultural tourism outfit to
improve service provision to tourists.
"We have decided to
equip the Longido Cultural Tourism Program with the eco-tourism kits in
our quest to enhance its efficiency and service provision to tourists
who intend to explore Longido," said the Oikos East Africa Managing
Director, Ms Mary Birdi.
The items include
camping equipment for 10 campers which are five tents of different
sizes, ten foldable camping chairs, three units of steel camping tables,
two units of aluminium camping tables, ten units of camping mattresses
with canvas covers, kitchen equipment for 12 campers, four solar lights,
Small Gas stove and big storage trunk.
In the list there
are also three units of Mountain bikes to be hired out to tourists
intending to explore the Longido sprawling wilderness zone on their own.
"Over stretching
objective of the donation of the tourism development equipment is to
spur the growth of tourism in Longido District, to be able to generate
income for both the common people and the local government" Ms Birdi
noted.
Longido Cultural
Tourism Program Coordinator, Mr Alliy Ahmadou Mwako said the Oikos EA's
eco-tourism equipment support comes at the opportune moment, as the
adventure-thirsty-tourists demand the gears.
"The equipment will
not only be hired out by private tour companies to spawn income for the
project, but also will be used by our own tourists with interest to
explore Lake Natron" Mr Ahmadou said after having received the gears.
For his part,
Longido District Game Officer, Mr Lomayani Lukumay commended Oikos EA
for being in a forefront to compliment the Government efforts by
innovating and supporting community development projects in a bid to
achieve sustainable socio-economic agenda.
"Oikos EA has been
our true partner in terms of conservation of natural resources. For
instance it has been able to mobilise and empower the community to
engage directly in conservation and human-wildlife conflict resolution"
Mr Lukumay explained.
He implored the
Longido Cultural Tourism Program beneficiaries to use the eco-tourism
equipment as a catalyst not only to do tourism business, but also to be
the good ambassadors of conservation drive.
"We believe that
these eco-tourism gears will not only strengthen your outfit
economically, but also will be the catalyst for you to ensure Wildlife
and ecosystem are safe for sustainable tourism trade" he noted.
Longido Cultural
Tourism Program (LCTP) with its base in Longido District, Arusha Region
in partnership with Longido Tourism Trekkers are operating within and
beyond the cultural-rich District of Longido.
Mr Ahmadou said his
program has been able to create 15 decent tour guiding job
opportunities for the local youths and now is working overtime searching
for artifacts market for women.
The local Maasai,
for the benefit of their community, runs the Longido cultural program,
under the Tanzania Association of Cultural Tourism Organisers (TACTO)
and close guidance of the State-run Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB)'s unit
of Cultural Tourism Program (CTP).
It organises the
tour to the extensive plains around Longido Mountains, 80 km north of
Arusha, features an insight into the traditions of Maasai culture.
The lush area is home to rare birds and mammals.
The tour includes a
nature trail to spot birds-walking safari through the Maasai plains an
over the slopes of Longido mountain - a visit to a traditional Maasai
villages-a tour of historical sites dating back to British colonial
times, Lake Natron visit among others.
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