Tanzania Tourism Invites Investment in National Parks

The Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) is prepared to invite various private firms into the country in order for them to participate in various investments that have been designed to help improve the Tanzania tourism sector, specifically by working to develop and to improve the country’s 15 wildlife parks.

The TANAPA organization is a state-run agency that is based out of Arusha and is responsible for the management of the various wildlife parks.

According to a report by Busiweek, early last month TANAPA invited interested investors to provide balloons at three of the country’s national parks.

This invitation by TANAPA called for each interested company to provide and operate two separate passenger balloons.

In addition to this invitation, TANAPA also invited interested investors to build six permanent tented camps and three separate lodges.

The report went on to indicate that, in order for the tourism investment program to not only be efficient but also effective in the country, the exact numbers that would be required would call for a 12-seater balloon in Ruaha, a 6-seater balloon in Mikumi and a 12-seater balloon in Tarangire.

Because ground transportation is often dramatically slower in the country during the rainy season, balloon transportation is seen as a way of supplementing the Tanzania transportation system, specifically during the rainy season.

In fact, this method of transportation has already become active and operational in the Serengeti National Park.

In addition, the TANAPA agency has also issued an invitation to investors to begin construction on six permanent tented camps with a 40-bed capacity each as well as three separate lodges, each with a 100-bed capacity.

According to TANAPA, some of the stipulations to this offer state that investors will be permitted to make a bid for only one of these facilities and will also be required to make such an offer in coherence with a bid to provide a variety of services to the tourists.

Currently, there exist already some of the highest quality hotels and tented camps in the various parks around the city, however more are becoming necessary as the tourism sector continues to grow and develop.

With this in mind, Busiweek has reported that France has offered to construct a modern tourism training college in Dar es Salaam.

This tourism college, which would be built under the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), would help to send 10 tourism tutors to France in order to be trained in culinary arts, food and beverage services and housekeeping at the Lycée des Métiers d’Hôtellerie de Tourisme de Guyancourt, which is located in Saint Quentinen-Yveline.

In addition to these improvements, TANAPA is also prepared to remove and sell 6,863 exotic teak trees in the Udzungwa Mountain National Park, which is located to the west of Dar es Salaam, thus making 6,454.7 cubic meters of timber ready and available for sale.