1.4m tourists arrive in eight mnths

11Mar 2024
The Guardian Reporter
DODOMA
News
The Guardian
1.4m tourists arrive in eight mnths

UPWARDS of 1,451,176 tourists have visited the country from July 2023 to February 2024 nearing the 1.5m tourists benchmark with four months left to the end of the financial year.

Chief government spokesman

Chief government spokesman Mobhare Matinyi told journalists here yesterday that the targeted number of tourists for the year 2023/24 stood at 1,387,987 despite that industry watchers affirm that government was aiming to arrive at 1.5m tourist arrivals a year at the time of the Covid-19 outbreak, and earlier planned to reach 5m tourists up to 2025.

The top government information official said the increase shows the impact of ‘The Royal Tour’ documentary prominently featuring President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

He said that the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) was at initial stages to conduct extensive repairs on Serengeti National Park infrastructure, damaged by rains.

TANAPA intends to build the entire Golini - Naabi - Seronera road stretching 68 kilometers that lies 50 centimetres to make it higher than the ground level, so that water drips from he road to canals and ditches.

The gravel state of the road demands regular repairs so TANAPA is looking for alternative ways to maintain the roads by improving it to a concrete or asphalt all weather road.

Based on conservation principles, TANAPA and the ministry are preparing a technical document to submit to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for auxiliary financing of infrastructure in national parks.

Four major roads in conservation areas were damaged during the rains, plying routes to neighboring regions of Mara, Arusha, Manyara, Mwanza, Shinyanga and Simiyu.

The roads are used by 600 to 800 tourist vehicles per day and thus are frequently damaged even if the rains are normal or sub-optimal. The road covers 291 kilometers (9.0 percent) out of the 3,176 kilometers of road network in the entire national park, he stated.

The road links Golini - Naabi - Seronera (68 km), Seronera - Ndabaka Gate (121 km), Seronera - Ikoma Gate (30 km) Banagi (Seronera) – Lobo – Kleins Gate (72 km).

TANAPA expects that a durable alternative will be found on the main roads criss-crossing the Serengeti, easing travel for the rising number of tourists, he added.

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