Kenya calls on Tanzania to jointly promote tourism
The East African Community (EAC)is preparing a strategy to sell its five partner states as a single tourism destination, and Kenya is now calling for a memorandum of understanding with Tanzania on the development and promotion of the industry.
Kenya’s Tourism Minister Najib Balala has issued a statement that if the two countries took such a position, it would help remove “serious” bureaucratic barriers and other obstacles to cross-border co-operation in the sector that is vital to economic growth and regional integration.
Permanent Secretary in the Natural Resources and Tourism Ministry, Ladislaus Komba, has responded “Tanzania is committed to marketing the region as a single tourism destination. We will take part in a technical officers’
meeting this week and a council of ministers’ meeting scheduled for 18 January 2010 to discuss this matter”
Incentives offered on both sides include reduction on visas fees, ease of border restrictions and discounts on safari and accommodation packages.
The move by the EAC to market the region as a single tourist destination is considered vital following the linking by the Community leaders in November
2009 of the regional common market protocol that is due to come into effect in July this year.
Tourism is a leading earner of foreign exchange in both Kenya and Tanzania, whose economies are the biggest among EAC member countries. Others in the bloc are Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. Buoyed by signs of global economic recovery, after experiencing a sharp decline of foreign tourists last year, authorities in the two countries have mounted aggressive marketing campaigns to attract around 3 million tourists yearly between them by 2012.
