Announcing his new ministerial cabinet last weekend, Tanzania President John Magufuli has appointed Dr. Damas Ndumbaru the new Tanzania Tourism Minister with his official title being Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism.
Dr. Ndumbaru was sworn in by the Tanzanian President on Wednesday to become a full Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism taking on the responsibility of the ministry and its key departments in wildlife conservation and protection, tourism, and the heritage sites.
A professional lawyer and a member of parliament, Dr. Damas Ndumbaru was appointed as the new Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism after the October General Elections in Tanzania.
Before his new appointment, he was Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation.
Under his new ministerial portfolio, Dr. Ndumbaru will be responsible to oversee then supervise tourism development in Tanzania in cooperation with government and private sectors both in the national and international arenas.
Wildlife conservation and protection is the key area falling under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, also conservation and development of heritage sites including historical, cultural, and geographical sites identified and marked for tourism development.
Dr. Ndumbaru was among the deputy ministers who met the Chairman of the African Tourism Board (ATB) Mr. Cuthbert Ncube in February this year during a day-long visit to Sinda Island off the Tanzanian coast in the commercial capital of Dar es Salaam.
Other Tanzanian former deputy ministers who accompanied Mr. Ncube during the exciting Sinda Island beach visit were Mr. Abdallah Ulega from Livestock and Fisheries and Mr. Constantine Kanyasu from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism.
During the visit, Mr. Ncube told the former deputy ministers that ATB will be working jointly with African governments and business stakeholders to market Africa into a single tourist destination through marketing and promotion strategies that will attract domestic, regional, and international tourists.
Mr. Ncube said during the island visit that Africans need to stand together to build their continent into a global leading tourist destination, banking on its rich and diversified tourist attractions made up of nature, historical and cultural heritages, geographical features, and friendly people.
The African Tourism Board has been working together with governments on the continent to market and then promote Africa’s tourism with emphasis on domestic tourism in respective countries as well as regional and intra-Africa travels.
Among key issues that ATB is now campaigning to solve are the travel restrictions within Africa. These are visa and border restrictions imposed to people from one neighbor state to another state.
“We should synergize our efforts as Africans to promote domestic tourism. That is the only way to go,” Mr. Ncube said.
Tanzania is among African tourist destinations looking to attract more tourists to visit its wildlife resources, historical sites, geographical features, the warm beaches along the Indian Ocean, and the rich cultural heritage sites.
The Tanzanian government has increased the number of wildlife parks conserved and protected for photographic safaris from 16 to 22, making this African nation among the leading African states to own a big number of protected wildlife parks for photographic safaris.
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