THE government is working on a recovery plan to re-set the tourism sector back on its feet even as major international airlines continue to resume their flights in the country.
Fielding questions from reporters, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources Dr Aloyce Nzuki said the recovery plan will be purely economical as Tanzania gears up to receive more tourists post the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The sector was brought to its knees when the novel coronavirus case got reported in the country back in March, therefore there’s a need to come up with a sound recovery path,” remarked Dr Nzuki on the sidelines of a tourism stakeholders’ meeting.
The PS pointed out further that the plan seeks to provide a comprehensive outlook of the $2bn industry and offer an assessment of a post Covid-19 sector.
The recovery plan comes after the rolling out of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) proposed by the tourism stakeholders in May this year.
The SOPs sought to cushion the lucrative sector against the effects of the novel coronavirus.
“As a sector, we have no choice other than contending with the new normal as we strive to keep tourism afloat,” he noted.
In the same vein, Dr Nzuki underscored the importance of focusing on new regional markets as some countries continue to be under lockdown.
The permanent secretary identified the markets as Egypt, South Africa, Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya.
The country’s tourism sector has offered glimpses of recovery since the government decided to reopen its skies in July. Tanzania has so far received over 30,000 visitors since the decision was made.
Latest data from the Tanzania National Parks(TANAPA) indicate that over 8,000 tourists landed in the country last Monday.
According to the conservation agency, three national parks, namely the Serengeti, Manyara and Kilimanjaro, had the most tourist distribution ever since the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines landed at the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) earlier this month, with more than 177tourists who are here to enjoy the country’s abundant tourist attractions.
The northern tourism circuit based parks attracted 7,811, 1,987 and 1,676 tourists respectively, in the distribution.
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