Invest in Classy Tourists Facilities - Government

By Heckton Chuwa in Moshi

AS Tanzania's tourism industry continues to grow at an impressive rate, the government has

invited investors to invest in the sector by focusing on classy hotels that meet tourists' requirements.

According to the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (Investments), Ms Angellah Kairuki, Kilimanjaro is one of the regions that grapple with shortage of high class facilities such as Four and Five Star hotels.

Ms Kairuki issued the appeal when she visited a Four- Star Moshi-based Kilimanjaro Wonders Hotel, an investment that started as a Tanzania Investment Centre's (TIC) registered project.

"We need accommodation facilities that can host all types of tourists and other visitors who come to Kilimanjaro Region. This will give them different options to choose from and spend their nights here rather than going to other areas out of Kilimanjaro Region," she said.

The minister noted that the hotel matched the region's status as the one that hosts Africa's highest mountain and one of the most attractive tourists' destinations in the world.

"We are aware that there are some visitors who come to Kilimanjaro for their duties but decided to stay their nights outside the region after their duties, claiming that there are no accommodation facilities fitting their demands. "This should end by establishing good accommodation facilities; we can only achieve that end if potential investors would work closely with the Regional Government through the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) to make sure more accommodation facilities of different status are introduced," said Ms Kairuki.

Tanzania is estimated to have about 8,000 hotel rooms, the majority of which are found in Zanzibar, Arusha and Dar es Salaam.

She commended the Kilimanjaro Wonders Hotel for the investment that she said showed the way due to the fact that as a Four Star Hotel, it provided extra services in the hotel industry in Kilimanjaro region that would attract more tourists and other potential clients in the region.

Minister Kairuki urged the hotel's management to think of investing in other areas within the tourism sector, other than the hospitality section of the sector, so as to increase more job opportunities.

Earlier on, the Kilimanjaro Wonders Hotel Manager, Mr Michael Solaiman told the minister that since its establishment in 2016 as a TIC registered project, the hotel that is 100 per cent locally owned has been raising the standard of its services.

"The hotel has so far filled a long standing vacuum in the region for a luxury accommodation, drawing high-end safari tourists from around the world, as well as VIPs, Government officials and domestic tourists," he said, adding, recently, the hotel opened a conference facility which he said had a capacity to host 120 participants.

"One of our main priorities is to make sure that our staff are professionally developed by learning new skills; we thank the Government for its support in helping train the service sector; we hope there will be an increase of support for Tanzanian talent to grow as far as the hotel industry is concerned," he said.

As for challenges facing the hotel, Mr Solaiman said they include effects of the Covid- 19 pandemic that gutted the tourism industry, tremendously reducing the numbers of safari tourists and Mount Kilimanjaro hikers.

"May I take this opportunity on behalf of the management to thank the Government through the Ministry for Natural Resources and Tourism for steadfastly promoting the country's tourism sector. This enables fast and strong recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic that impacted the sector," he said.

He added that the promotion by the government would enable potential clients to learn about the natural and cultural beauty Tanzania has to offer to the world.

The Travel and Tourism Competitive Index 2019 report released last year by the Jumia Africa Hospitality Group indicated that Tanzania is 10th in the tourism growth ranking of over 50 African states.

Tourism accounts for 17 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - and is the leading sector in foreign exchange earnings. In 2018, it generated over 2 billion US dollars (about 4 .6 trn/-).