All Tanzania’s highways are dotted by large commercial billboards on either side; some extra-large other featuring full High Definition Videos and GIFs but none seems to promote the country’s many natural attractions.
Such things has irked the Natural Resources and Tourism Minister, Professor Jumanne Maghembe, who issued an order to the Tanzania National Parks, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority and the Tanzania Tourist Board to start installing planting billboards and neon signs that advertise the country’s national parks, conservation area and other attractions fit for tourists.
“It is rather a shame that when foreign visitors land into the country, they are welcomed by billboards advertising cellular phone services providing firms instead of what Tanzania has to offer,” pointed out Prof Maghembe. He added that neighbouring countries took advantage of Tanzania’s ‘lying back’ attitude to virtually profit from local features.
“I want large billboards lining up from all points of entries, Namanga border, Kilimanjaro International Airport; Dar es Salaam Port, Julius Nyerere International Airport and other border gateways, promoting Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Zanzibar Island, historical Kaole Ruins and Mount Kilimanjaro,” he ordered during his recent visit to Arush.
He ordered that the exercise to install billboards promoting tourist features across the country should be realised before next month.
According to Prof Maghembe, "Tanzania is the ‘Land of Kilimanjaro, Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Zanzibar,’ not the land of ‘Tigo,’ ‘Vodacom,’ ‘Airtel,’ and ‘Halotel,’ or ‘Samsung,’ or even the land of variety of beer brands being advertised on its highways, ports of entries and other public places.
Tanzania is home to 16 national parks, 25 game and forest reserves, one conservation area authority, the highest mountain on the continent, a number of marine parks, extensive coastline, the attractive Zanzibar Island and a total of seven world heritage sites.
Records show that the country gets an average of 1.2 million visitors, classified as tourists, every year. More than 80 per cent of these prefer to visit the Northern Circuit, which comprises of Mount Kilimanjaro, Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti National Parks.
The Director General of Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA), Dr Allan Kijazi, said plans are on the drawing board to open up parks in the Southern and Western parts to expand the tourism base in Tanzania.
Daily News
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