Tanzania is hoping to collect more than 26 million U.S. dollars from tourist hunting in the 2018-2019 financial year, authorities have said.
Hamis Kigwangala, the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, told the National Assembly in the capital Dodoma on Wednesday that a number of interventions have been put in place by the ministry aimed at bringing about revolution in the tourism industry.
He said implementation of the government’s “Hunt More for Less” campaign will improve the sector as well as boost revenues.The minister said that there have been various issues related to tourist hunting since 2008, which resulted in decrease in revenue earnings.
Kigwangala said Tanzania was expected to tap 16 billion U.S. dollars from the tourism sector by 2025.
He said a recent World Bank report showed that by 2025, Tanzania will receive 8 million foreign visitors compared to the current 1.5 million tourists arriving in the country each year.
“We have embarked on efforts to market our tourist attractions abroad, including establishment of the Tanzania Safari Channel,” said Kigwangala.
On Tuesday, Members of Tanzania’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Lands, Natural Resources and Tourism raised an alarm over possibilities of a resurgence of poaching of elephants due to changes in tourist hunting block licensing system.
The government of Tanzania revoked hunting block licenses in 2017 and announced preparations of a new system of issuing the permits through auction in 60 days.
Stephen Kiruswa, a member of the committee, told the National Assembly that the government has already started to experience negative repercussions of the decision as a good number of investors have surrendered most of the hunting blocks to the government.
Kiruswa said that revenues generated from tourist hunting blocks have also been reduced to 8 million U.S. dollars in 2018 from 27 million U.S. dollars in 2008.
Xinhua