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Tanzania: The Goldmine in Heritage

When one mentions tourism in Tanzania, what beeps right into most people's minds is the rich menu of attractions like the Serengeti and Zanzibar.

Zanzibar being a place of winding alleys, bustling bazaars, mosques and grand Arab houses whose extravagance is reflected in their brass-studded, curved, and wooden doors; fragrant plantations of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Other attractions in Tanzania include internationally recognised six world heritage sites which are prime tourist attractions; Ngorongoro conservation area, Serengeti national park, Stone town of Zanzibar, Ruins of kilwa kisiwani and Ruins of Songo Mnara.

Apart from wildlife, Tanzania has world-class marine assets in Pemba, Mafia and Zanzibar.

Tourist circuits

Tanzania has many tourism circuits and has benefited from its principle of conserving its natural resources.There are wildlife viewing/photographic safaris in all parks and reserves but mainly in the Northern Circuit with famous National Parks.

Southern Circuit comprise of Selous Game Reserve and Ruaha National park. Tourists can also visit the East where the famed Jane Goodall set base for her Chimpanzee research center. Access to this area known as Gombe Stream is strictly controlled. Most popular tourist circuits for Europeans are the beach resorts mainly in Zanzibar but they are also in addition to wildlife safaris.

In Pemba and Mafia there are coral reefs and big game fishing. While Chumbe Island which won the British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Award in year 2000 is an ecotourism resort.

There is also bird watching mainly on photographic safaris to southern or northern circuits. Adventure tourism comes in when tourists opt to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Deep sea fishing takes place in Pemba channel and Mafia and inland fishing on Lake Victoria. One of the best places in the world for Scuba diving is Mafia, Pemba and parts of Zanzibar.

A variety of archaeological and historical sites make up for a larger percentage of cultural tourism. The most notable places are the Olduvai Gorge, Bagamoyo, Kilwa and the island of Kilwa Kisiwani, Laetoli, Isimila (near Iringa region) Tarangire not forgetting the stone town of Zanzibar.

Cultural attractions

Other cultural attractions are the people of Tanzania like maasai. There are also the stone town of Zanzibar and Bagamoyo. Bagamoyo, located north of Dar es Salaam, was once an important trading post in East Africa including slaves sold to Arab buyers in Zanzibar.

Bagamoyo was also the capital of German East Africa from 1887 to 1891.Hunting is also classified as a tourism activity because it thrives on wildlife and brings in foreigners and as it is, is among the highest expenditures made by any segment of tourists.

One of the major reasons why Tanzania is the best tourist destination is because of the favourable climate. Game viewing and bird watching is uninterrupted.

Visiting the Northern circuit is all year round. Hunting seasons are best in July to December. In Zanzibar peak seasons for tourists are in August, December and January. The government needs to introduce more activities and tourist destinations that can attract more tourists in other parts of the country.

A large chunk of tourists who come to Dar es Salaam which is the business hub of Tanzania visit the National Museums that houses the country's cultural heritage, relics and antiquities.

Dr. Paul Msemwa, the Director for the National Museums of Tanzania says that very few foreigners visit the museum as compared to the local people. He says that his department contributes very little to the tourism industry as a whole.

He quickly points out that what is needed is perhaps for the government to carry out awareness on the importance of the museum and what it has to offer.

"Many people think the museum is a boring place where old unwanted things are kept, but they need to as well know that this is a living place that is important to society and the future generation," says Dr. Msemwa.

Currently the national museum of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam is being renovated at a cost of 5.5 billion Tanzania shillings by a Chinese contractor and the work is scheduled to take 21 months.

Both governments of Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar recognise that tourism apart from agriculture is a major source of foreign exchange.

The governments' tourism and vision 2000 - 2020 report calls for wise utilisation of available tourism resources and diversification of and improvement of assets in order to attract diverse tourism segments and markets.

The report also underlines the importance of improved infrastructure and better education and capacity building for Zanzibar.
Source:http://allafrica.com/stories/200708271305.html

This post was written by: beemagnet77

BeeMagnet is a professional graphic designer, web designer and business man with really strong passion that specializes in marketing strategy. Usually hangs out in Twitter has recently launched a blog dedicated to home design inspiration for designers, bride, photographers and artists called HomeBase