Tanzania is facing acute shortage of over 30,000 hotel beds to accommodate the increasing demand in the country’s hospitality sector, the Daily News reports.
The country currently has only 38,000 hotel beds against the country demand for 70,000 beds, the report said.
According to the country’s acting Director of Tourism in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Mr Deogratius Mdamu, the sector is rapidly growing, with peak seasons — between July and September — resulting into overbooking of high-class hotels.
Until recently, Arusha which is the country’s tourism hub and gateway to the Northern Circuit had about 2,800 hotel beds. The region is reported to have raised the number to 3,000 while Mwanza, despite its tourism potentials, has only 920 beds, slightly higher than Kilimanjaro and Mbeya’s 916 and 670 beds, respectively, this according to the report.
Other than increasing the number of beds, the Tourism Minister, Professor Jumanne Maghembe called for the services provided to be improved as well.
“Hotels in Dar es Salaam, for instance, seem to focus mostly on conference hosting and meetings while the Northern Zones are more oriented towards the real tourism sector,” said Prof Maghembe.
Tanzania’s tourism sector plays a major role in the country’s economy. In 2014 alone tourism generated around USD 2 billion which constitutes 25% of Tanzania’s foreign exchange earnings.
Tanzania’s wildlife resources are considered among the finest in the world and include the Serengeti plains which host the largest terrestrial mammal migration in the world, the Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera and home to the highest density of big game in Africa, and Africa’s highest mountain Kilimanjaro.
