Local tourism up and doing fourfold

The number of Tanzanians visiting various national parks in the country has skyrocketed from 50,000 to this year’s 270,000 as domestic tourism grows day by day.

This has been confirmed by the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) Director Allan Kijazi when speaking on the successes of TANAPA 50 years of Independence. The number of locals visiting the parks has tremendously exploded in the last three years. Earlier, the number was negligible because proper awareness of visiting the parks was lacking in our people.

Kijazi said still plans are under way to attract more domestic tourists to the national parks which can spark more income than the foreign one. The latter is pegged on global economic stability. When this economy falters, so does tourism in our country.
Earlier, he had said that to improve local tourism in our national parks proper arrangements should be made in order to maintain a continuous flow of visitors and make all Tanzanians enjoy tourism.

“The public will be made aware on the importance of domestic tourism. The notion that tourist attractions are only meant for foreigners should be erased from our people’s minds,” said Kijazi.

Other initiatives meant to attract domestic tourism would include lowering park entrance fee in all the 15 national parks and also encourage them to erect hostels and camps inside the parks. This will bring down the cost of spending the nights in the parks. Tanzanians should nurture a culture of visiting national parks and experience the taste of the various attractive sceneries in Tanzania.

Source: http://www.arushatimes.co.tz/local%20news_3.html