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

Tanzania orders 30 to leave the country

total of 34 out of 89 aliens arrested in Shinyanga and Kagera regions have been deported to their respective countries, it has been learnt.

The Immigration department in Shinyanga Region disclosed this during a function to bid farewell to 2009 and usher in 2010. It said the aliens were from Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya and Zimbabwe.

In a report, it said illegal migrants were a chronic problem in Shinyanga Region because of the interaction of ethnic clans residing along the highway to Rwanda and Burundi.

The report issued by the head of the Immigration department in the region, Mr Seleman Kameya, said 34 other aliens were imprisoned and 21 released after being found to be bonafide Tanzanians.

Mr Kameya said the department realised Sh100 million and $170,000 in revenue last calendar year when 275 passports were issued.

However, it faced a number of challenges along the Tanzania border with Rwanda and Burundi, an immigration officer from Ngara District in Kagera Region, Mr Antipas Nogera, said.

He said a very small difference existed between Tanzanians and foreigners living along the border because of the interaction among members of ethnic clans from Tanzania and neighbouring countries.

The Shinyanga regional commissioner, Dr Yohannes Balele, said in a speech that some of the aliens who were breaching peace in the region were arrested by the department. His speech was read on his behalf by the Bukombe district commissioner, Mr Florence Holombe.

Source:/thecitizen.co.tz/