Tanzania posts record earnings from tourism

Tanzania's receipts from foreign tourists incre ased from US$ 823.05 million in 2005 to a record US$ 1.269 billion in 2008 as a r esult of the government-backed campaign to market the country's tourist attracti o ns, Natural Resources and Tourism deputy minister Ezekiel Maige disclosed.

Maige told the ongoing parliamentary session in Dodoma, central Tanzania the inc rease in earnings matched with the number of tourist arrivals that went up from 6 12,756 to 770,376 over the same period.

He said 42,000 of the holiday-makers resorted to the region of Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro.

According to the minister, the government made deliberate efforts to beef up the financial capacity of the Tanzania Tourism Board (TTB) to advertise local attra c tions internationally.

Meanwhile, Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA), the official arm for mana gement of game reserves, would allocate 23 new investment locations for construc t ion of lodges and hotels under a five-year development plan.

In addition, Maige said the authority intended to raise the number of beds for v isitors to parks up to 1,333 by the end of this year, compared to 500 beds in 20 0 5.

Source:africanmanager.com