U.S. Business Executives to Visit Dar

The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

25 April 2011

Dar Es Salaam — American business executives, investors and diplomats will tour Tanzania in June and July this year as part of efforts to promote hotel investments in the country.

To be guided by Tanzanian’s ambassador to the US Mwanaidi Maajar tour will serve as an opportunity to open Africa’s most naturally endowed tourist destination to US hotel and tourism investors, according to the Hotel Interactive website.

Only a handful of US investors, including Hilton, IHG and Best Western have properties in the country, home to the world’s tallest free standing mountain, Mt Kilimanjaro, the breathtaking Serengeti, and the exotic spice islands of Zanzibar.

Investors will also be shown investments opportunities in mining and power and energy sectors, according to Ms Majaar.The trip is the brainchild of Ms Maajar. She developed the idea after participating in an ‘Experience America trip’ to Atlanta, organized by the US State Department for diplomats. She said the trip was successful because of the cultural experiences and the networking opportunities.

“I thought we could have something that was like that but with more tourist adventure and a little bit of business. We need to do more publicity of what is there and the kind of destination that we can offer,” said.

The government is targeting hospitality in part because of the increasing demand from visitors. Tanzania saw 780,000 arrivals in 2010, a nine per cent increase over 2009, making tourism is one of its fastest growing economic sectors.

Areas ripe for tourism development include the capital, Dar es Salaam, both for business and leisure travelers, as well as luxury properties that would serve visitors to game preserves in the southern region. High-end hotels, especially with conference center facilities, are in demand. The northern region already is attracting international conferences largely due to the Arusha International conference Centre, in Arusha, known as the safari capital of East Africa.

“We’re looking more for quality than quantity,” Ms Maajar said.”Tanzania is marketed to high-end clientele in America.” While the country boasts seven Unesco World Heritage Sites, Ms Maajar is aware that Tanzania has not always promoted its natural assets effectively. The Serengeti and Mt. Kilimanjaro are familiar terms to Americans, but they may not identify them with Tanzania. Worse, they might identify them with another country.

“We haven’t come out and marketed Mount Kilimanjaro,” Ms Maajar said. “You can see it from Kenya but it is not in Kenya. It’s in Tanzania, but we haven’t marketed it in Tanzania.”

The message needs to reach Americans, the top source market for tourists to Tanzania.”We also need to make ourselves more visible in America,” she said. “It’s a big country. We need to get known better than what we are now.”

The government also is targeting investment in infrastructure such as roads and the airport. Maajar noted there are no direct flights from the US to Tanzania.

“It’s an area where we are actively looking for partners,” Ms Maajar said. “We’re looking for people to invest in airlines. We are trying to encourage American commercial airline to go directly to Tanzania, to Kilimanjaro International Airport.”

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