Mafia: ‘Hidden’ island becoming popular eco-tourism destination

By Anganile Mwakyanjala

Located in the western Indian Ocean and overshadowed by the reputation of Zanzibar, the Mafia Archipelago remains little-visited, its natural resources and culture unspoiled.

These ‘hidden’ islands have much potential to be one of Tanzania’s leading eco-tourism destinations.

I sat down with Mr Peter Byrne, an economist who, 30 years ago, began creating Kinasi Lodge as an ‘island life’ destination at the beginning of Tanzania’s tourism renaissance.

Optimism and imagination ruled over being a ‘good investment’ as the number of visitors slowly grew and challenges presented themselves—building on an island with only dhow transport and fluctuations in tourism source markets emerged. But today, he is as determined as ever that, with the archipelago’s unique natural attractions, it has so much to offer Tanzania’s tourism.

“I first went to Mafia in 1984 and worked there between 1986 and 1987 for a company that had coconut plantations and various other businesses,” Peter said when explaining his background.

Later, the coconut oil business would face strong competition from the palm oil industry, and only recently has it emerged to much international demand.

In 1993, work began on the land fronting Chole Bay to create a small lodge that would expand the family business that had begun the same year with a safari company in Arusha Region.

“We had one acre of land, and we started on that. I am an agricultural economist, so I knew very little about tourism, but we went ahead with the idea as a family home and something to share with others along the way. I grew up in Papua New Guinea,” he recalls.

From consultancy work, he scraped together enough to build five bungalows, the restaurant, bar, and kitchen, and opened Kinasi Lodge in October 1995.

Since then, Kinasi has passed through several phases of upgrading and sophistication. It has 16 rooms along with a pool and alfresco grill-bar, a spa, a dive centre, and boats for whale shark, snorkel, and dive activities.

Since 2017, the national and regional governments have set their sights on bringing Mafia to the fore as the leading edge in developing the coastal tourism resources of mainland Tanzania.

As part of this evolution, the tourism stakeholders of Mafia came together in 2021 to start ensuring that Mafia would develop carefully into the preferred nature-based island destination.

Out of these deliberations, the Mafia Island Tourism Organisation (Mito) has been formed and registered and now actively works through a community, environmental, and marketing programme.

Mito is working closely with the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) to ensure inclusion in marketing plans and activities and for help in launching Destination Mafia.

Earlier projects, such as the World Bank-funded REGROW project, had not included the islands and coastal attractions and concentrated on a programme to develop and market wildlife areas in the south.

This overlooked the value and potential of “circuits” that link unique destinations such as Mafia and Kilwa into tourism routes that can be served economically by road and air transport.

Mito has developed and shared with the government proposals for tourism planning and marketing with the objective of cementing consultancy efforts to create an overall destination management plan.

“We are also engaging with the recently launched Blue Economy project under the RISE programme of bilateral assistance from the European Union,” Peter explains.

“They have an imaginative and well-researched spectrum of ideas and products that includes national plans and direct involvement of the private sector. This creates a balanced public-private development modus operandi,” he asserts.

From early on, Mafia Island presented incredible opportunities and potential for marine and terrestrial tourism, from whale sharks and world-class scuba diving to coastal forests, wetlands, and marvellously isolated beaches and islets.

The handful of pioneering investors that created unique small resorts has now swelled, and now more investors in tourism, including Tanzanian entrepreneurs, are setting up shop in the Mafia.

“The government is directly supporting the zoning and development of tourism in Mafia as a priority contribution to the drive to grow Tanzania’s tourism industry.

“The plan is intended to put Mafia on the international map and in a form that will preserve nature and keep the “unspoiled and authentic island” brand, something we call “Mafia Kipekee”, which encompasses all things special, “Peter explains.

Though the slogan is not official, clearly Mafia Island is on the verge of rebranding and claiming its rightful place as a unique tourism destination.

Mafia Island has an incredible marine park, stunning coral reefs, and whale sharks with unmatched underwater sightings, but to preserve this, the local community needs to be fully involved, educated, listened to, and involved in all steps of the way.

After all, the local communities are the “keepers” of these phenomena.

There are growing pressures from climate change, with more severe weather and ocean temperature increases, the commercial fishing industry, the use of illegal fishing gear, mariculture, and unplanned developments.

“It takes over 30 years for a coral reef to recover once damaged,” he adds.

The tourism stakeholders are advocating for improved management of protected zones and monitoring of coral reefs and fishing offtake so that the fish are allowed to breed and repopulate the production cycle and not alter the biodiversity of the island’s assets.

To contribute to this, the tourism investors and marine park are working together to support marine park management in patrol and management. A village-based coral reef monitoring project is in the works, along with socio-economic monitoring in village communities.

Snorkelling with whale sharks is one attraction that has distinguished Mafia Island from its neighbours, Zanzibar and Pemba.

So does its excellent diving, which offers exceptional “macro” diving for over 50 species of coral, 460 species of fish, and unusual small reef species, such as seahorses.

The abundance of fish, the scenery underwater, and colourful corals place Mafia on the top shelf of diving in Tanzania.

And diving is not limited by physical ability. “We have had many physically challenged people visit and dive in Mafia, so there are no limits if visitors are ready to take up the challenge; we have great guides and dive crew here in Mafia,” Peter adds.

During my 27 years in the tourism business, new times brought new challenges and opportunities, and Mr Byrne and the other early tourism investors had to adapt through the decades for their businesses to stay afloat. “At the beginning, we had a very good Italian, Swiss, and English market and even a strong Dar es Salaam market,” he said.

But during the Gulf War, the Global Financial Crisis, and the Covid-19 crisis, business was disrupted, and with the introduction of online booking services like Booking.com, the mode of business has changed.

“Initially, the portals were remote and impersonal, and even TripAdvisor was difficult to deal with, but all that has changed now, with more coherence from the portals allowing direct contact with guests, to assist and en-gage with them before they come to Mafia.

“There is a good balance and communication. A guest can directly talk to the resort about booking and personal requirements or preparations, such as assistance to reach Mafia.

“We encourage our guests to reach out to us directly if they have any needs or issues,” he said.

Mature travel markets such as north, central and Southern European countries have been the backbone of Mafia’s development to date.

“The Swiss market was incredible, even during the Covid-19 experience,” he mentioned.

The departure of British Airways was a negative shock for tourism, but there is hope that a direct flight from the UK will soon commence.

“The high price of long-haul international air fares has been a blow in 2023 and will endure into 2024.

“The impact of wars, inflation, and economic woes all affect distant places, like Mafia, when enticing people to visit.

“Marketing is a challenge at all times,” Peter said.