Arusha — The minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr Damas Ndumbaro, has renewed calls to more aggressively promote Mount Kilimanjaro as a major tourist attraction in Tanzania.
He said there have at times been confusion on the exact location of the highest mountain in Africa, with some international travel agencies portraying it is in a neighbouring country.
“The mountain should be marketed as being in Tanzania,” he stressed during his recent visit to the Kilimanjaro National Park (Kinapa).
He said the international travel agencies across the globe should be sensitised that the mountain was in Tanzania and that mountain climbers have to land in Tanzania to scale it. The snow-capped, 5,895-metre high ‘Roof of Africa’ is one of the three leading tourists destinations in Tanzania after the Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater. It is the fourth most topographically prominent peak on Earth – and as part of Kinapa, it is one of the 22 national parks managed by the Tanzania National Parks (Tanapa) across the country.
Dr Ndumbaro challenged the management of both Kinapa and Tanapa to aggressively market the mountain well in the tourism source countries abroad so that tourists intending to scale it fly directly to Tanzania.
Besides the routine marketing through online tourist journalism, the promotion efforts should also involve using sports, notably football, golf, netball, basketball, boxing and other games.
Without elaborating, the minister hastened to say that some people abroad were not aware that Mt. Kilinanjaro is in Tanzania, East Africa, not in a neighbouring state.
Responding to the appeal, the Kinapa chief park warden, Ms Angela Nyaki, said they would do everything humanly possible to promote the mountain as a unique tourist attraction in Tanzania.
According to her, the renewed efforts are to include opening a new climbing route via Kidia in Old Moshi.
The mountain would also be promoted through international conferences hosted in the northern tourist circuit, notably in Arusha and Moshi, she said.
Source: The Citizen
