Why Tanzania's Southern regions need 'Royal Tour' push

Arusha. Tourism stakeholders have welcomed a new version of Royal Tour documentary dedicated to the southern tourism circuit but said a lot has to be done to market the area.

“It is a good idea. Our country has many tourist attractions. We have concentrated much on the northern zone,” remarked tourism consultant Willy Lyimo.

He said the southern circuit was equally rich in tourist attractions but has not attracted much attention from the tourism investors and, until very recently, the policy makers.

The unique sites in the southern zone include several national parks such as Julius Nyerere NP, the largest in the country, and Kitulo, acclaimed for its floral spectacle.

The zone is also blessed with the ecologically-rich Udzungwa NP, Mikumi and Ruaha at the headwaters of the Great Ruaha/Rufiji river system and lots of water falls.

“Unfortunately, there had been no spirited marketing of those sites compared to the northern sites until recently due to limited facilities,” he told The Citizen.

Mr Lyimo said besides enjoying aggressive marketing over the years, the northern circuit attracted more tourists and also good transport infrastructure, including the international airports.

Last week President Samia Suluhu Hassan announced that the second part of the Royal Tour documentary, to be known as ‘The Hidden Tanzania’ was underway.

She revealed this during her visit to Njombe Region, saying that Njombe and other regions in the southern parts of Tanzania will be featured.

The first part of the documentary, which was launched in April this year, mainly focused on the northern regions, specifically, Mt Kilimanjaro, Serengeti and Ngorongoro.

The highlights also included the historical sites in Dar es Salaam, Bagamoyo and Zanzibar; part of the campaign to promote Tanzania as a preferred destination.

Mr Lyimo said the announcement by the Head of State to focus on the south was a challenge to the tourism industry players to invest and vigorously promote the destination.

An official of the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) zonal office in Arusha Ian Mwaimu said what the president said was in line with a massive programme to open up the pristine south for tourism.

That is the $150 million Resilient Natural Resource Management for Tourism and Growth Project (Regrow) that was launched in 2017 to promote the circuit as a leading tourist destination.

It would reposition the southern circuit as an engine of growth through tourism development and enhanced conservation of national parks, game reserves and historical sites.

“It is also part of the diversification effort and reducing concentration on Serengeti and Ngorongoro,” Mr Mwaimu pointed out.

He said the southern regions have comparative advantages despite being left behind in marketing. These include cheaper park entry fees compared to the north.

“The entry fees into those parks (in the south) are cheaper by 40 percent compared to the sites in the northern circuit,” he told The Citizen. They range between $35 and $40.

Each foreign tourist entering Arusha, Manyara and Tarangire national parks is charged $59 and $71 for Serengeti and Ngorongoro Conservation Area, both value added tax (VAT) inclusive.

For the Ngorongoro crater, the iconic site that attracts 90 percent of the visitors to the vast conservation area, some $ 295 is charged to each vehicle getting there.

Mr. Mwaimu said the southern regions are rich in natural and cultural attractions such as Kitulo, popular as ‘Eden of Africa’ and Isimila stone age ruins in Iringa, among others.

However, an Arusha-based tour operator Aafeez Jivraj said a lot has to be done to ensure the circuit attracts more visitors like the northern circuit and Zanzibar.

“The southern circuit infrastructure is weak. Some accommodation facilities (hotels) are either too expensive or not up to standard”, he explained.

He is, nonetheless. optimistic that the trend may soon change in favour of the zone given the promotional effort made by the government, its agencies and the private sector.

“I have not been to the southern highlands despite being in the tourism business for over 20 years. But in February next year, I will lead a group of tourists there who demand I take them to the south”, he said.

The permanent secretary in the ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism Prof Eliamani Sedoyeka has downplayed transport constraints there, saying the hurdles are being addressed.

He said the aviation facilities to the national parks - Ruaha, Kitulo and Katavi - have been refurbished for safe landing of the aircrafts ferrying the tourists under the REGROW project.

Extension and upgrading of the air strips and other measures taken, he observed, have uplifted the image of tourist attractions in the southern highland regions.

Reports abound of the rising number of tourists visiting the tourist attractions in the south, especially the Ruaha National Park, the second largest after Nyerere National Park.

The ambitious World Bank-supported REGROW project also aims to woo potential investors to build hotels and other facilities within the circuit which has its share of tourist attractions.

Initially the challenge has been poor roads, shortage of hotels and dedicated (tourism) promotion as is the case with the northern circuit, said to attract over 70 percent of the foreign visitors.