Tanzanian tour operators have breathed a sigh of relief after Kenya temporarily lifted its ban on their tour vans.
On December 22, Kenya barred Tanzanian vehicles from dropping off or picking up travellers at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). While no official statement was issued in Nairobi, industry sources said the move was in retaliation for Tanzania’s refusal to allow Kenyan tour operators to take tourists directly to its national parks.
READ: EAC wants Kenya, Tanzania tour van dispute resolved
Kenya’s Tourism Cabinet Secretary Phyllis Kandie announced a three-week moratorium after a meeting with her Tanzanian counterpart, Lazaro Nyalandu, in Nairobi on Friday. Ms Kandie said Kenya had agreed to allow Tanzanian vehicles to operate as the two countries prepare for a bilateral meeting to be held in three weeks.
According to sources, Kenya and Tanzania have identified numerous challenges to the tourism industry in both countries and agreed to find lasting solutions in the talks.
A source quoted the Kenyan minister as having said that after the upcoming talks, Nairobi will say whether the Tanzanian vehicles will be banned for good or be given special permits to handle passengers at JKIA and tourist attractions. Mr Nyalandu said he was optimistic that the dispute would be solved.
The news was received with jubilation in Tanzania’s safari capital, Arusha.
“Although the decision came rather late — nearly 26 days later — we are happy that at least we have been allowed to operate as we used to,” Rainbow Shuttles managing director Mathew Mollel told The EastAfrican.
Waturi Matu, co-ordinator of the East African Tourism Platform, separately termed the current crisis unfortunate but expected.
“Kenyan tourist service vehicles have been denied entry into Kilimanjaro International Airport since 1985,” Ms Matu noted. According to her, what is needed is a review of the bilateral agreement in line with provisions of the EAC Common Market Protocol on free movement of services and labour.
However, the KIA management denied these allegation. The director of finance and corporate services at Kilimanjaro Development Company, Bakari Murusuri, told The East-African that the firm had not received a circular from the Tanzanian government banning Kenyan vehicles from the airport.
Tanzania has also denied Kenya’s tour operators access to its national parks through the Bologonja border point for 38 years. Bologonja, which lies between Tanzania’s flagship park Serengeti and Kenya’s Maasai Mara Game Reserve, was until the mid-1970s a convenient route for tourists visiting the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem.
Following the collapse of the first East African Community in 1977, Tanzania closed its border points with Kenya for nearly seven years.
Dar es Salaam reviewed the order in the mid-1980s and opened its main entry points — save for Bologonja — to tourist traffic.
The two countries signed a tourism co-operation agreement in 1985 following the November 16, 1983 Arusha Summit, which resolved that only local operators could access all tourist attractions and that tourists would pass through designated border posts or regional towns.
Kenya’s entry points into Tanzania are Namanga, Sirari, Holili and Horohoro while Namanga, Isebania, Taveta and Lungalunga are Tanzania’s entry points into Kenya.
The East African
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