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TTB has now got down to business
2008-05-02 09:09:38
By Editor
There are signs that the state-run Tanzania Tourist Board is now aggressively doing what the public has all along expected it to do.
This public agency is charged with promoting tourism in the country, in effect helping the industry grow and contribute more to the nation`s economic growth alongside creating jobs for our people.
Tanzania has many unique attractions that would turn tourism into a real gold mine once more potential local and foreign tourists got to know enough about them.
The attractions include the country`s open spaces, magnificent wildlife, idyllic palm-fringed islands, historical palaces, three great lakes, Africa`s highest mountain (Kilimanjaro), world-famous national parks, and rich and diverse cultures.
This is not to forget the fact that Tanzania is so much of a confirmed bastion of peace and tranquility that it has for decades hosted refugees and freedom fighters from near and far.
But these treasures can only guarantee us wealth through strategic international and domestic promotion campaigns towards that end.
That is precisely why we believe that TTB`s decision to make tourism promotion drives a priority is laudable and worth supporting.
The board`s innovative campaigns have become so aggressive that their impact is now in locations as distant as Europe and North America.
This is being implemented using the services of globally acclaimed public relations companies.
What`s more, TTB`s has innovatively launched a brush-up hospitality course for the managers of five-star hotels in Arusha.
This is being done as the city gets set to host an African Travel Association conference and the eighth edition of the Leon H. Sullivan Summit later this month and in early June, respectively.
Since tourism stakeholders have long said both events would stimulate, generate and drive tourism and business generally, the government is duty bound to ensure that the goal is achieved.
Aware of these prospects, TTB`s tuition specifically aims at improving the ability of hotel staff to provide delegates to the two events with excellent hospitality services.
The much we can say for now is that such intervention is invaluable because it is an empowering process that would hone the skills of the managers and their subordinates.
Shrewdly handled through a superior show of typical Tanzanian hospitality and world-class customer care, the two events have all the potential to further sell our country to the outside world.
The government, TTB and indeed the entire nation must plan adequately for both the events and the tourism promotion drives to become resounding successes in line with global demands.
The onslaught of information and communication technologies notwithstanding, the tourism sector will for long remain labour-intensive and the quality of support infrastructure or facilities, services and staff decisive.
For sure, the challenge is now even greater and more real than has ever been the case, if we are serious about attaining the much-trumpeted one million tourist arrivals by 2010.
It is important to know well ahead of time that the expected influx of tourists will mean a lot of hard, well-executed work on Tanzania`s part.
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