Tourism board warns guides over harassment of visitors

By Patty Magubira ,The Citizen Reporter

Posted  Monday, May 19  2014 at  10:02

In Summary

• Tanzania is a country with many tourist attractions. More than 44 per cent of Tanzania’s land area is covered with game reserves and national parks.
• There are 16 national parks, 29 game reserves, 40 controlled conservation areas and marine parks. Tanzania is also home to the famous Roof of Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro.
• On 6 January 2012 The New York Times placed Tanzania in the 7th position among 45 top destinations to visit in this year 2012. The tourist industry currently supports 27,000 jobs and generates 25 per cent of Tanzania’s foreign exchange.

Arusha. Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) has admonished tour guides in the northern circuit who demand tips crudely from tourists, saying the behavious taints their image and that of the country.

TTB zonal manager Willy Lyimo said at the weekend that tips should be determined by the quality of the services a guide offers.

“You can make tourists come back to Tanzania over and over again if you serve them well,” he told over 80 tour guides at the end of their three-day mountaineering emergency first aid training at Safari Hotel in Arusha.

Tour guides and chefs were key personnel who could build or damage the sector altogether and that in other countries they were highly trained in communication skills, humanity and specific tourism products.

“You ought to be well informed on routes, weather, height and tree species surrounding Mounts Kilimanjaro and Meru,” he said.

“Do not be discriminative, do any job,” Arusha district administrative secretary Evalilian Mboma told the tour guides from Arusha, Moshi and Marangu shortly before she awarded them certificates. She assuraed them that the ongoing review of the 1999 Tourism Policy would accommodate their interests.

The Kilimanjaro Guides Association (KGA) chairman earlier complained over the government tendency to forgetting guides know0how, forcing the association to organise training for them.

He said it was important for mountaineering guides to speak many foreign languages and become conversant with rocks and weather patterns, among others.

The association intended to train 300 out of 1,060 tour guides during its first training session, but owing to financial constraints, it managed to train 31 from Arusha, 35 from Moshi and 18 from Marangu.