6.0:     TOURISM

6.1: The meaning of the Concept 

Tourism refers to the travel of people away from home to other place for recreation, leisure, religious, family, or business purposes, usually of a limited duration. Tourism involves visiting places of interest like wildlife, beaches, museums.

Types of tourism 

There are two categories of tourism, namely, Domestic and international tourism.

 a)Domestic tourism involves travel within the same country for leisure, pleasure or study. For example, when people move from Mbeya to Mikumi National Park to view wild animals, this kind of tourism is called domestic tourism.

b)International tourism involves movement from one country to another for leisure, business, education, etc. For example, many people travel from Europe and America to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, or to view other attractive things.

 6.2: Factors for the development and growth of the tourist industry in the world.

Concept from this subtopic

(a)Factors for the Development and Growth of the Tourism Industry in the World

 Factors which have contributed to the development and growth of tourism in the world

           i.     Tourist attraction. For example, National parks such as Ngorongoro, Serengeti and Mikumi , mountain Kilimanjaro and water bodies such as Indian ocean and lake victory in Mwanza

          ii.     Climatic condition.

-           Cold area attracts tourists due to presence of sport and game such as ice skating.

-           Other people movies from cold area and visits warm area.

     iii.    Advancement in transport and communication.

-   Presence of developed roads, railway, airport and internets connect people from various place from the world that attract people to visit in a certain area. Such as Tanzania has well developed transport and communication system like, Nyerere international airport in Dar es salaam, Kilimanjaro international airport.

-   And also development of new project of standard gauge railway

-   Tanzania has well developed in internet service due to presence of various companies providing those services such as Airtel, Vodacom, Halotel and Tigo.

        iv.        Marketing.

-   Refers to spread of information through media, journals and football team. Such as Mama Samia Suluhu established royal tour film to market Tanzania Tourism.

-   Also Simba sport club wear jersey that written visit Tanzania

         v.        Political stability

           vi.            Enough capital for investment

          vii.            Hospitality

        viii.            Good accommodation facilities

           ix.            Government policy

             x.            Proper management.

 6.3: Importance of Tourism in the world.

Concepts from this subtopic

a.        Explain the importance of tourism in the world.

b.       Identify impact of tourism in the world.

c.        State ways of addressing the negative impact of tourism

 Importance of Tourism in the World 

          i.       Source of foreign exchange. especially from foreign tourists.

        ii.       Source of employment. it provides employment opportunity to the people such as tour guides and tour drivers,

      iii.       Improvement of infrastructure. It facilitates movements of people(tourists) from one place to another.

       iv.       Promotes international relations and promotes international respectability for example Switzerland   

        v.       Source of government revenue. Hence economic development as the tourist pays entry fees in national parks. 

       vi.       Conservation of wildlife and environment, protection of historical sites and cultural preservation. 

     vii.       It helps development of other sectors. Such as transport, mining and agriculture sectors.

  Positive impacts of Tourism in the world

                i.It helped in foreign exchange

              ii.Tourism has led to creation of job opportunities. Many people have been employed in the tourist sector, a fact which has helped improve their quality of life.

             iii.It brings together people of different colours, cultures and religions.

             iv.It leads to job creation in rural areas, thereby reducing rural-urban migration.

               v.It has led to diversification of economies of countries involved in the sector. For example, tourism is now earring more revenue than agriculture and other sectors of the economy in Tanzania.

             vi.Tourism has enabled sustainable conservation of wildlife and the environment and preservation of cultural heritage and historical sites.

            vii.It influences development of infrastructure in host countries. In Tanzania, for example, roads to national parks such as Serengeti National Park have been improved 

Negative impact of tourism

i.                     It leadCulture deterioration. The tourists can lead to erosion of traditional cultures and values. 

ii.              Environmental pollution. Through dumping wastes and cutting down of trees

iii.            Increase of child labour. People under 18 ages are employed in hotels to works for providing services to tourists

iv.             Spread of diseases. Tourism accelerate spread of disease such as HIV/AIDS, Kimeta, Corona, Ebola

viii.             Tourism lead to increase in crimes and evils such as robbery, drug abuse, prostitution, drug traffic.

Ways of addressing the negative impact of tourism

i.Diversification of revenue sources such that when the tourism industry collapses they do not suffer economic difficulties.

ii.Laws and policies should be put in place that ensures the revenue accrued from tourism benefits the local community and the government in general.

iii.Tourists should be directed to obey the culture and traditions of the host communities so as to reduce cultural interference. 

iv.To manage number of visitors so as to conserve environment.

v.Promotion to conserve and preserve the environment to protect wild life habitat.

vi.The laws, rules and regulations should be enacted and enforced to combat criminal incidences, child labour, drug abuse, and prostitution.

vii.New tourist attractions should be established and developed so as to reduce pressure exerted to already established attractions.

viii.The local people should be involved in tourism activities so that they benefit in conserving the tourist attractions like wildlife conservation areas.

ix.There should be integration of tourist activities with the protection of the environmental condition through the eco-tourism approach. (to encourage Eco tourism or Green tourism)

6.4 Focal studies on tourism industry

Concepts from this subtopic

a.     Describe factors for the development of tourism in Switzerland, Namibia and Tanzania.

b.     Explain the importance of tourism in Switzerland, Namibia and Tanzania.

c.     Identify problems facing tourism industry in Tanzania

d.     Explain methods used to increase the income of tourism industry in Tanzania.

e.     Discuss the lessons that can be drawn to promote tourism industry in Tanzania.

TOURISM IN NAMIBIA

Namibia is a newly independent country but the tourism sector has grown very fast within a short period of time. Incidentally tourism is the 3rd largest contributor to the gross domestic product after mining and agriculture. The number of visitors in Namibia has been increasing year after year. For example in 1993 over 368,000 visitors came to Namibia, 560000 in 1996, 615000 in 1997 and over 800000 are projected for the year 2007. The overall growth of the tourism sector is targeted at 10-12 percent per year

Factors that have contributed to the tourism growth in Namibia 

                i. Advertisement that has been done by the government and the private sectors

              ii.Strong policy on promoting the tourism industry

             iii.Namibia has a favorable investment potentials created by Namibia‘s free market economy and the government commitment to promote free enterprise. 

             iv.Well developed infrastructure has facilitated easy accessibility of different places in Namibia. 

               v.There are a lot of attractions which include:- Climate endowed with beautiful sunshine, Abundant wild life in the game reserves like hardtop and mahango game reserves, national parks like the Etosha and Malili national park, Caprivi Aaan and Viljoen game parks.

             vi.The establishment of the Namibia stock exchange [NSX] that has attracted foreign investors, has been another contributing factor in the tourism development. 

            vii.The hard work made by both the public and private sector. The private sector has invested substantially in the development of infrastructure. 

          viii. The influence of development of other activities has facilitated the development of tourism in Namibia. 

             ix. The aid from European countries has also enhanced the tourism development process in the country

Importance of tourism to Namibia 

a)  It has led to the preservation and boosting of the country‘s cultural values and norms

b)  It has stimulated the further development of infrastructure

c)   It has promoted the move towards environmental conservation in the country with an aim of maintaining the country‘s beauty

d)  It has contributed to the employment creation in the country

e)  It has contributed to the gross domestic product. It is the third contributor to the GDP after mining and agriculture

f)   Social services have improved in the country especially with the introduction of the community based tourism

g)   Tourism has earned Namibia an international repute. It has led to the improvement of the people‘s lives in general .

Tourists resorts in Namibia 

The tourist resort in Namibia includes Cape gross seal reserve, Caprivi Game Park, Daan Viljeon park, Duwisib castle, Etosha national park, Fish river canyon, Gross barmen hot spring resort etc.

TOURISM IN SWITZERLAND

Switzerland is a famous country in the world due to its tourism development. It is also referred to as the playground of Europe since tourism takes place all the year around and many tourists visit Switzerland because of its attractions. There are also different games and sports that are of interests to the tourists.

Factors influencing the development tourism industry in Switzerland 

      i. Beautiful scenery made by the Alps Mountains which have U-Shaped valleys pyramid peaks and snow cover. Also presence of water bodies like Geneva which adds to the beauty of the scenery.

     ii.Its central location in Europe has also led to high accessibility of the country from different directions in Europe and other countries like America etc.

   iii.Ideal climate which allows the activities to take place both in winter and summer

    iv.Good hotel management so as to meet tourists demand

     v.Availability of skilled labor. This has led to the efficient running of the tourism industry

    vi.Hospitality of the Swiss people has been another attraction to the tourists

  vii.Its policy of stability has made peace dwell in the country and hence tourists have been encouraged to visit the country

 viii.It has international institutions like banks and conference centers used by different nations because of its peace

    ix.Presence of tour packages. Tourists get each and every tings from their paid packages

Importance of tourism in Switzerland 

i) It creates employment opportunity. During the peak season it employs more than 120,000 people. This is six or seven times as many as Tanzanian tourism employments. It has contributed to the provision of employment to the people.

ii) It has contributed to the earning of foreign exchange in the country hence capital is accumulated from the tourism industry in a great amount.

iii) It has stimulated the development of science and technology for example electrification of the railway systems. iv) It has accelerated the foreign responsibility of the Swiss country. This has been followed by the improvement in the international relations between Switzerland and the countries where tourists come from.

TOURISM IN TANZANIA 

Tourist attractions(Honeypots) in Tanzania 

i.                Large network of National parks and game reserved 

Example of National parks in Tanzania are Serengeti, Tarangire, Lake manyara, Arusha National parks, Mikumi, Ruaha, Katavi, Gombe, Mahale, Rubondo island, Udzungwa and Kilimanjaro national park. Example of Game reserves are Selous, Rungwa/Kizigo, Moyowosi/Kigosi,Maswa, Ibanda, Biharamulo Bugiri, Gurumeti/Ikorongo, Usangu, Saadani, Ugalla and Mkomazi. 

ii.              Pre historical sites like Olduvai Gorge 

iii.            Attractive land scape. Such as mount Kilimanjaro and Ngorongoro Craters

iv.             Attractive coastal sites.  Such as Bagamoyo, Tanga and Dar es salaam

The importance of tourism in Tanzania

                        i.Source of foreign exchange ­

                      ii.Improvement in the standard of living ­

                     iii.Source of employment.

                     iv.Improvement of infrastructure

                       v.Market for locally produced goods and services

                     vi.Environmental conservation

                    vii.Strengthening of international relations

                  viii.Sources of government revenues

Problems facing the tourism industry in Tanzania include:

                        i.Poor transport and communication

                      ii.Poor marketing of the tourist attractions

                     iii.Shortage of capital to develop tourism industry

                     iv.Poor coordination policies government and stakeholders in the industry

                       v.Crime that caused by tourists from visiting tourism areas.

                     vi.Poaching has led to extinction of some animals

                    vii.Stiff Competition from other countries with the same attractions

                  viii.Failure to master different languages creates a communication

Ways of increasing income from the tourism industry in Tanzania

                     i.Marketing and publicity (Advertisement of national parks and game reserves)

                   ii.Promotion of domestic tourism

                 iii.Expanding tourist industry by opening and expanding new tourist attraction like coastal area.

                  iv.Training of tourism personnel

                   v.Improvement of infrastructures

                  vi.Improvement of safety and security (Maintenance of political stability)

                vii.Controlling poaching because it reduces numbers of wild animal Lessons to Promote Tourism Industry in Tanzania

               viii.Improvement of accommodation and recreation resorts such as hotels, lodges, rest house.

Lessons drawn to promote the tourism industry in Tanzania

From case study learnt in Namibia and Switzerland have lesson that Tanzania could adapt as follows;

              i.            Marketing: The Government of Tanzania as well as private players in the tourism industry should invest in marketing the country’s tourism attractions all over the world.  

            ii.            The government should formulate and enforce a strong tourism policy that is geared towards promoting culture-based tourism and eco-tourism.

           iii.            Package tours: The government should promote package tours that allow for tour arrangements, including hotel reservations and travels to be done by a company.

           iv.            Regional co-operation: Tanzania, as a member of Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), has to fully utilise opportunities aimed to promote the tourism industry especially through the use of the Regional Tourism Organisation of the Southern Africa Countries (RETOSA)