all roads will be leading to Arusha when global investors in the travel and tourism industry along with ministers of tourism from African Union member states are expected to turn up. Yet for many such events there is a preemptive note of caution these days, that if everything goes well, or as planned.
The reason is that while we debate about Covid-19 inoculation, other countries are rolling out a third jab campaign as newer variants of the coronavirus get trickier. While the world is still smarting from the Delta variant apparently noticed in India at midyear, medical reports flashing cable news networks late last week were talking about a new strain C-12 that has been singled in South Africa and is said to be more virulent than the Delta variant. Many important events are held in video conference these days.
That doesn’t hold back preparations altogether for the 65th United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Commission for Africa Meeting 2022, which Tanzania has been chosen to host in October next year. Affirmations from the Tanzanian Embassy in Paris report that endorsing Tanzania's application to host the 65th session was passed during the recently held 64th meeting of the UNWTO commission for Africa held in Sal Island of Cabo Verde, at the start of this month. Indeed, it can also be said that our newly rediscovered openness to international business and regional cooperation, plus the rising stature of the country’s tourism attractions in world markets, make Tanzania above average candidate for the meet.
In that case, whether or not a total of 54 tourism ministers from African Union member states will be around, to exchange ideas with global stakeholders (vaccination passports now being used more widely) what matters is our own preparedness. For decades we have seen such events merely in terms of what is called ‘conference tourism,’ but we are learning that business tourism is more paying and lasting in memory and achievement. We have for instance started to seek investors in conservation, where we still need to discuss if we are offering the right products, by out sourcing the maintenance or development of ‘pariah’ conservation areas. The most interested parties are likely to wish to get into the key destinations.
For instance even at the time of the Cape Verde ministerial meeting, the Tanzanian delegation led by minister Dr Damas Ndumbaro did not have a big agenda to push, other than to get Tanzania elected to the UNWTO Program and Budget Committee..With greater openness to the private sector in several key conservation areas it could orchestrate new conservation financing with clear accountability, for instance what to do about elephant overpopulation in various areas. Indeed, only when we have numerous foreign stakeholders on our hunting areas and game parks can the dream of two million overseas tourists by the year 2025 or slightly later be realised. Just putting up notices in glossy magazines may not do much good. We tend to think that our voices are sufficient to attract people to destinations, where it is testimony and tailored services which matter, as well as tapping into markets that foreign agencies know, not ourselves
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