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Domestic skies further liberalization boon to tourism
2006-08-02 09:00:45
By Felix Andrew
The arrival of tourists in Tanzania is set to increase from next year following recently signed bilateral air service agreements and memoranda of understanding between the government and India, China, Rwanda and Qatar.
The Director General of Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA), Margaret Munyagi, has said that the government has reviewed her bilateral air service agreements (BASA) and signed several Memoranda of Understanding (MoU).
Last April, the government signed a MoU with the government of India, while in May it signed another one with Rwanda and the People’s Republic of China.
The MoUs, which were applicable from the date of signing, incorporates new bilateral air service agreements (BASA).
The review of the Tanzania’s BASA with other countries was a deliberate move by the government to provide a conducive environment for increased connectivity between Tanzania and the rest of the world and facilitating of tourism, industries and trade.
Tanzania was expecting that members of both the public and private sectors would seize this opportunity created by the new agreements and expand markets to those countries, Munyagi said .
Recently Tanzania and Qatar signed a MoU to increase the number of frequencies of operations of their respective airlines between their countries.
The MoU was signed on July 18 in Doha by an assistant director in the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, Kirenga Ndemino, on behalf of Tanzanian government and the Qadar Vice-chairman of Qatar Civil Authority, Ibrahim Abdul, on behalf of the Government of the state of Qatar.
The signed Mou requires each country to designate more than one airline, the 1994 MoU limited the number of airline to two only.
Part of the MoU also reads that designated airline has to be substantially owned by respective government citizens of the respective states.
The chosen airlines would be permitted to operate up to twenty one flights per week (from previous three) in each direction using any type of aircraft.
The designate airline may operate unlimited freighter service per week between the two countries in order to promote and increase cargo exports.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism has announced that the number of tourists visiting Tanzania has been increasing steadily.
Last year Tanzania received about 600,000 tourists from all over the world, it was expected that this year the number might increase substantially.
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