Zanzibar and Tanzania Mainland on Brink of Tourism War


By ADAM IHUCHA -- A deal that will see Tanzania mainland and Seychelles promote each other’s tourist attractions has rattled Zanzibar, which says the partnership could kill its beach industry.

The Tanzania-Seychelles treaty is the culmination of a 2010 memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will see Air Seychelles launch twice-weekly flights to Dar es Salaam to offer tourists hassle-free trips between the Indian Ocean Island and the Tanzania mainland, starting this week.

The Seychelles Honorary Consul and the Tourism Ambassador for Seychelles in Tanzania, Maryvonne Pool, said both countries, would benefit from each other since Seychelles has the pristine beaches, while Tanzania mainland has its unique wildlife and is best for wildlife safaris.
“I look forward as the Seychelles Honorary Consul and the Tourism Ambassador for Seychelles vigorously promote both tourism and trade between both countries,” Ms Pool explained.
Tourism players in Zanzibar say the Tanzania mainland and Seychelles deal is equally detrimental for their infant beach tourism, as it would drive tourists from their beaches to Seychelles.

Former chairman and the current board member of Zanzibar Association of Tourism Investors (Zati), Simai Mohammed Said says that the Tanzania mainland overlooked Zanzibar’s fundamental interests in entering a two-way marketing deal with Seychelles that would hurt their efforts to attract tourists to the Isle’s beaches against the premium offered by competing beaches in Seychelles.

Should Tanzania mainland go ahead with the plan, Mr. Said warned, it would bring about political disaster for the 50 year-old Union.

The stiff opposition by Zanzibar arises from the argument that Seychelles wanted to ride on Tanzania’s rich wildlife advantage to sell its beaches to tourists looking for a combined beach-bush package.

This, Mr. Said claimed, will be at the expense of Zanzibar’s own strongest selling point.

“We have to prepare ourselves psychologically in the next couple of the years, when we go to travel shows like World travel market in London or ITB Berlin, when you look at the summer brochures, Seychelles will be promoting Safaris in mainland Tanzania and the beach relaxation in seychelles at the expense of Zanzibar” he explained.

Traditionally, tourists after visiting Tanzania mainland’s wildlife rich attractions go to Zanzibar Isles for beach relaxation.

Tourism is a significant source of income for Zanzibar - largest source of foreign exchange, contributing about 27 percent of GDP, and 80 percent of foreign direct investment (FDI), generating export earnings of about $116 million in 2012.

Available data show that tourism, which attracts nearly 200,000 tourists, is a source of decent jobs in Zanzibar as it creates direct employment of 15,000 people and, 50,000 others indirectly.

There are around 5500 rooms providing over 11,000 beds that can accommodate approximately 145,000 visitors.

“Worse enough the MoU did not involve stakeholders in Zanzibar despite the fact that Zanzibar is part of Tanzania and in brotherly spirit they were supposed to invite us” Mr. Said noted.

Indeed, the Minister responsible for tourism, information, culture, and sports in Zanzibar, Mr. Said Ali Mbarouk says he wasn’t aware and if Tanzania mainland feels that Seychelles is more important to partner with then Zanzibar can also cooperate with Rwanda in promoting tourism.

However, Natural Resources and Tourism deputy minister, Mahmoud Mgimwa maintains that the MoU is more beneficial to Zanzibar than mainland.

“Zanzibar has beach like Seychelles so logically, they can learn from Seychelles than Tanzania mainland, which its mainstream tourism is based on wildlife” Mr Mgimwa says.

He further argued that in the current world, Zanzibar cannot runaway from competition, particularly in tourism market.

Mr. Mgimwa argues that Tanzanians will benefit a lot because entrepreneurs will take advantage of niche market of other items such as cereals, horticulture produces and beef in Seychelles as the country was in dire need of that items.

“We must learn how to compete if we are to remain relevant in business. Protectionism approach of our market has no room in this world. We either compete or die. Kenya has the same arrangement with Seychelles, and yet it has Mombasa beach, why not Tanzania,” he stressed.

In the deal, the deputy minister says, Seychelles will be promoting Zanzibar- Bagamoyo and Tanga beaches with an eye to boost tourist numbers in Tanzania.

Indeed, the Seychelles Consul Ms Pool expressed her great hopes that the airline will benefit the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar as well.
“I know that we can partner in many areas of tourism, and export of produce from Zanzibar and the authentic spices from the Island,” Pool added, articulating her optimism to see Zanzibar taking part in the forthcoming Victoria Carnival next year.
Expressing her inspirations, Ms. Pool said Air Seychelles had chosen the right destination where it will introduce fast and cheap connections to the world.
Travelers would love to spend a few days in Seychelles before they arrive at their destinations. Through a partnership with Etihad Airlines, Air Seychelles will open more connections throughout the world, she added.
The flight between Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Victoria in Seychelles will take only two hours and twenty minutes, making the route a short one.
Air Seychelles is also looking into capturing the Indian Ocean Islands and the East Africa regional airspace, adding to its current flights to South Africa.
With its pristine beaches, warm water, and coral reefs, Seychelles has long been a must-visit destination for many tourists from all over the world.
Seychelles is made up of 115 islands capable of hosting 215,000 international tourists per year, making the island a highly developed tourist destination.

In 2012, visitor arrivals in Seychelles stood at 208,034. The Seychelles National Bureau of Statistics confirmed that as at the 31st December 2013 the visitor arrival figures for 2013 was 230,272.

This represents a percentage increase over 2012 of 10.7 percent. This figure is over two and a half times the total population of the Seychelles and over five times the working population of the islands.

The Central Bank of Seychelles on its part says that their tourism earnings in 2013 to have reached $343.6 million, this represents an increase of 11 percent over 2012 figures ($310.3 million).

A small, service-based, middle-income, island-state economy with a GDP per capita of $ 15,644 in 2013, Seychelles is classified as a high-middle-income country. The nation enjoys good public sector governance, ranking 5th in the Ibrahim Index of African Governance in 2014.

Seychelles has already achieved most of the Millennium Development Goals, especially for education, health, poverty eradication, and the environment. Poverty in Seychelles is relatively low, with less than 2percent of the population living on less than $ 2 per day.

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