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Tanzania and
Zanzibar
Marketing
Tanzania 2007
About
Tanzania
Dar es
Salaam's New Luxury Hotels: A Sign of Confidence in
Tanzania's Expanded Tourism Sector
Kilimanjaro
Kempinski Hotel: Tanzania tourism is booming
and this is reflected in new hotel investments by
well known luxury brand hotels such as Kempinski,
Movenpick and Sun International. For the
first two, Kempinski and Movenpick, Tanzania
represents their first venture in East Africa.
"These major hotel projects, both on mainland
Tanzania and Zanzibar, demonstrate great confidence
in the future of the country's tourism growth,"
said Hon. Zakia Hamdani Meghji, MP, Tanzania's
Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism.
According to Peter Mwenguo, Managing Director,
Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB), "the five- star 180
room Kilimanjaro Kempinski Hotel opening promises
to revive Dar es Salaam as a major port of call and
tourism center. This major investment in down-town
Dar es Salaam will play a key role in upgrading the
surrounding waterfront area. In addition, the
hotel will serve as an anchor for the development
of Tanzania's "Southern Wildlife Circuit.
Zamani
Kempinski Resort:
In Zanzibar, the luxurious 110 rooms and
suites Zamani Kempinski Resort will
open July 1. Each room will
feature its own terrace and Indian Ocean view.
The facilities include a swimming pool, health and
beauty spa, restaraunts, bars, banquet rooms and
upscale boutiques.
Kunduchi
Beach Hotel:
The new luxury five-star property in Dar es Salaam,
the Kunduchi Beach Hotel and Resort, was officially
opened in March by Tanzania's Vice President, Dr.
Ali M. Shein. The 262- room hotel, renovated and
expanded by its new owners, the Wellworth Hotels
& Resorts Ltd, features a unique and beautiful
blend of Arabic and Tanzanian architecture. In
addition to the usual five-star amenities of a
beach front property - watersports, swimming pool,
restaurants, fitness center, guest internet access-
the Hotel has a full-service business center and
seven conference rooms equipped with
state-of-the-art meeting facilities.
Mövenpick:
Mövenpick
Hotels & Resorts has signed a management
agreement to operate the 251 room Mövenpick
Royal Palm Hotel Dar es Salaam. Amenities include a
fitness centre with sauna, an outdoor pool, a hair
and beauty salon, plus tennis, squash and golf
facilities nearby. The comprehensive range of
conference and banquet facilities which can cater
up to 440 participants and the lavishly furnished
Business Centre provide business executives with
the ideal conditions to stage successful meetings
and events.
Update:
Tanzania's
Ruaha National Park
to be Africa's Largest
Busara
Festival
TANZANIA
STORY
Photos
1-10
Air
Safari - Mafia,
Selous,
Ruaha
National
Parks
Tanzania
at UN
Arusha
Bagamoyo
Caves
Chumbe
Island
Dar
es Salaam
Eco
Action Plan
Explorer's
Club
Fashion
Shows
Imax
Part
1
Imax
Part2
Kilimanjaro
Marathon
Moshii
Selous
Stone
Town
TTB
visits USA
Walking
Safaris
Wildlife
Women
in Tourism
Zanzibar
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TANZANIA
STORY
. Photos
1-10
Qatar
Airways Dar es Salaam launch
Dar es
Salaam and Zanzibar Exotic Indian Ocean Ports of
Call
Flashback:
Delegates to Seatrade Convention in Miami saw the
Tanzania Tourist Board raise its profile and
presence with its first-time Coffee Break
Sponsorship on Tuesday, March 4, prior to the
State-of-the-Industry Address. Tanzania will
highlight Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar as its exotic
Indian Ocean ports of call, as well as shore
excursions to some of Africa's most famous national
parks and game
reserves.
Continued
A Couple
of Days in Dar es Salaam
by
Henry Pelham Burn.
 Planning
a trip to Tanzania for September, my travel agent
seemed alarmed that I'd be "stuck" in Dar es Salaam
for two days. She suggested a day trip to Mafia
Island to solve the problem. Since small planes
make me nervous, this idea was a non-starter. So I
resigned myself to Dar, a city mainly depicted to
me as a place to go through rather than to. As it
turned out, a couple of days in Dar proved not long
enough. Here are some of the things that happily
filled my days.
When
the thrill of lolling around a pool with your
fellow tourists sipping passion fruit juice wears
thin, KARIOKOO MARKET is the place to go, to mingle
with the wananchi ("citizens")and lose yourself
among the myriad stalls. You may not be tempted to
buy a sack of rice or a dried fish or an old pair
of jeans, but you can sharpen your wits and get
some good dialogue going, particularly if you
muster a little Swahili. Photo by Karen
Hoffman
Henry
Pelham Burn, New York based author and bookbinder,
on a recent visit to Tanzania, was surprised to
find that Dar es Salaam, often seen as a place to
pass through on the way to a safari or Zanzibar, is
in itself, a fascinating part of one's visit to
Tanzania. These are some of his Dar es Salaam
"finds."
THE
NATIONAL MUSEUM
For
a complete contrast, the NATIONAL MUSEUM downtown
breathes an air of genteel neglect. You may be the
sole visitor. The fossil discoveries from Olduvai
Gorge are impressively displayed downstairs.
Upstairs, the years of colonialism and the
anti-colonial struggle are presented through a
historically fascinating mishmash of objects,
photos and yellowing documents. A poignant
sculpture tribute to the twelve Tanzanians who died
in the attack on the US Embassy is in the
garden.
NYERERE
CULTURAL CENTRE
Next
to the Royal Palm Hotel is the NYUMBA YA SANAA or
Nyerere Cultural Centre. In this tranquil setting
built around an open-air pond you can browse
undisturbed among samples of local arts and crafts
- handmade paper, batik, paintings, jewelry, even
shoes - all for sale, or just sit over a soda or
lunch. I passed up a fishskin suit for the
beautifully blue-dyed skin of a three-foot Nile
Perch ($5) that as a bookbinder I intend to use in
my work.
MWENGE
VILLAGE
From the main post office for 15 cents you can
catch a small bus (or dalla-dalla) all the way out
to MWENGE VILLAGE, almost to the University. Or,
for $5, you can take a cab. I must confess to the
cab, mainly because the buses filled up so fast I
could never get a seat. Mwenge Village is the site
of a score or more stalls selling carvings,
jewelry, exotic cloth and trinkets of all kinds at
bargain (as long as you do!) prices. This is where
dealers from Nairobi come to buy. In the very end
stall I found a striking Nyakusa wall-hanging of
tightly woven raffia in a geometric pattern of
contrasting browns, the smell of wood smoke still
clinging to it, ($15). In the shade of some trees
sat a line of wood carvers, chipping, gouging,
filing and sanding. The man I squatted down next to
was of the Makonde tribe from Mozambique, he told
me. The intricate design he was sculpting from a
block of ebony would take him about two months to
finish, he calculated, demonstrating the various
stages.
VILLAGE
MUSEUM
Also
in the Mwenge direction, right off the busy New
Bagamoyo Road, is the VILLAGE MUSEUM. The cab
driver who dropped me off agreed to come back in an
hour. I wish I'd made it two. I had to tear myself
away from some very energetic tribal dancing that
takes place here most afternoons and of which I was
the sole spectator. 'Museum' is a bit misleading.
People came from all parts of the country to build
houses typical of their tribe in this park setting.
With a flashlight (bring your own, theirs are very
weak) and the help of explanatory labels I wandered
in and out of some ten dwellings (there were many
more) noting the details of daily life and the
intricacies of construction. There was a garden
planted with indigenous crops and, in one corner,
artists painting in the colorful tinga-tinga style
had set up shop. They tutored me in the laid-back
Swahili greeting, "Mambo?" (things), to which the
response is, "Poa!" (cool) This goes over very
well. I also came across a noted potter, Petro
Mayige, in his studio, and couldn't resist a set of
the clay figurines he sculpts using traditional
know-how: an old man trouncing a youth at a game of
bao, $15.
COCO
BEACH
The
evening of my last day in Dar I sat on the terrace
of a humble restaurant on COCO BEACH with two
Tanzanian friends I'd made. The beach, on Oyster
Bay, had been closed for a couple of years - they
explained - following the depradations of a killer
shark. Now the shark had been caught and the beach
was open and with plates of changu (a tasty local
fish) and chips (French fries) and bottles of
Kilimanjaro and Safari beer we watched the moon
rise over the Indian Ocean. It was very peaceful.
We were the only diners.
KIGAMBONI
Had
I stayed another day I'd have followed my friends'
advice and taken the five minute ferry-ride from
Kivukoni Front (near the new
Japanese-built fish market) across to the southern
peninsula of Kigamboni and explored the beaches
there, so close to Dar yet apparently so unspoiled,
with a couple of small guest houses and bars to
choose from.
Seaport-
Cruises
(continued)
Showcasing the diversity of Tanzania and Zanzibar's
tourist attractions at booth # 1261, the six-person
Tanzania delegation to Seatrade includes Tanzania
Tourist Board (TTB) of Directors, Mrs. Vicky Swai
and Mrs. Scolastica Ponera; Koz Gamba, Chairman of
the Tanzania Cruise Tourism Committee, Mr. James
Lembeli, Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA); Mrs.
Sabaah Ali, Zanzibar Tourist Corporation; Mr. Ali
Haji, Zanzibar Port Corporation, and a
representative from the Ngorongoro Conservation
Area Authority. As the
cruise ship
companies look for new ports of call in different
parts of the world to add value to their packages,
Tanzania, the largest country in East Africa, is
attracting more attention. Famous as the home of
Mt. Kilimanjaro, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater,
Tanzania promotes itself as "Authentic Africa."
Africa, is attracting more attention. Famous as the
home of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Serengeti, Ngorongoro
Crater, Tanzania promotes itself as "Authentic
Africa."
Silversea Cruises features
Dar es Salaam
Brad Ball,
spokesperson for Silversea Cruises, describes the
attraction of this Indian Ocean Port. "The city
started out as a fishing village and is today
considered the commercial capital of Tanzania. Its
picturesque harbor lies along some of the world's
most important sea routes.
In this intriguing
city, visitors find themselves surrounded by an
impressive display of cultural and architectural
influences dating back to the Sultanates. However,
it may be the friendliness and relaxed manner of
the city's inhabitants that make it a truly
appealing port of call.
Dar es Salaam's sites
of historical interest lie both in the city and the
surrounding area. An organized city sightseeing
tour provides a good overview for the first-time
visitor. Of main interest are the game reserves and
national parks, which are a good distance from Dar
es Salaam and can be reached by full-day or
overnight excursions."
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