Reports indicate that the launch of a promotional Tanzania eco-tourism campaign that will focus flora, forest species and insects in order to attract more tourists to the country is forthcoming.
According the Director of marketing for the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB), Devotha Mdachi, the focus of the Government of Tanzania is to secure the attention of tourists who are interested in the fields.
“Our focus on this is to concentrate our efforts in trying to capture tourists’ interests by diversifying our tourism products from the current traditional focus on wildlife to other products such as cultural, special interests, conference and sports tourism,” she said, “and also by promoting new tourist attraction areas such as those in the southern, western and coastal circuits.”
After making note of the fact that the majority of tourists to Tanzania are interested in the country’s traditional tourist products such as wildlife, mountain climbing and beach bathing, the TTB and the Tanzania Ministry of natural Resources and Tourism joined in a collaborative effort so as to offer attractions to the country’s more ‘special interest enthusiast.’
According to Ms. Mdachi, tradition special interest tourism attractions include activities such as insect hunting, flower collecting and forest safaris, but the TTB also been working to promote archaeology, bird watching, butterfly and insect catching, dolphin tracking, flower collecting, forest trekking, and whale and dolphin watching as additional special interest attractions.
The marketing director went on to note that the majority of the country’s special interest activities take place in the Amani Nature Forest Nature Reserve, the Kitulo Plateau National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Mkomazi National Park, the Udzungwa National Park and the forests of the Uluguru Mountains.
Tanzania boasts an eco-system with a large variety of unique flowers and trees along with rich forests and plants.
Udzungwa National Park features lush forests in which there exist many rare plants that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
According to Ms. Mdachi, the Mkomazi National Park, a relatively new park that is located below the slopes of Usambara Mountains and the Eastern Arc mountain ranges, is rich with plants and insects and provides an excellent backdrop for hikers and climbers alike.
In addition, the marketing director explained that the Amani Forest Nature Reserve, which was established in 1997 in order to protect the flora and fauna of the East Usambara Mountains, boasts a large collection of birds, butterflies and plants.
Ms. Mdachi, went on to note that the Kitulo Plateau National Park is the first park in tropical Africa that has been recognized for its floristic significance in the region; hosting more than 350 species of plants including balsams, bellflowers’ honey-peas, irises, lilies and orchids, the park has become known as the ‘God’s Garden” or ‘the Serengeti of Flowers.’
