Dominic Myumbilwa
Senior Member
- Jan 5, 2017
- 190
- 93
By: Eric Allard
I’ve been in Tanzania for 30 years now and i'm proud of where this nation is at when compared to what it was when I first arrived. It was a good decision to move here then and I’ve experienced the country’s economic and infrastructure growth over the 30 years. I’ve also run my businesses in what were challenging conditions but they have done well. All in all it has been a positive experience.
Over the past 30 years, I’ve welcomed many friends and always promoted Tanzania as a destination to be visited. During my time in Tanzania, I traveled extensively around Southern Africa (and other parts of the world) and seen how other African countries have developed over the same time period.
Having just come back from a road trip across Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, part of South Africa, and Namibia, all places I’ve visited multiple times since 2001, now, for the first time in 30 years I find myself in a difficult situation when trying to answer questions raised by friends wanting to travel to Tanzania. If I’m being objective I find it difficult to promote Tanzania like I did in the past.
The beauty of Tanzania has not worsened in 30 years. If anything it has improved, or been better exposed to the world. But for a foreigner, the cost of traveling within the country have become exorbitantly - or even prohibitively - high. Yesterday I replied to a person wanting to visit Ngoro Ngoro and the Serengeti. When adding up the costs I found it would cost each person approximately USD 130 per night in government fees to stay overnight in the Serengeti. To drive into the crater it would cost some USD 295 per vehicle and USD 72 per person....so imagine the cost of a family of four having two teenage children aged 16 or more, that would pay adult prices!
I then told the person to consider rather traveling to Namibia, where a visit to Etosha National Park, an iconic park in its own right and Africa’s third biggest, where a family of 4 having two teenage children would pay USD 5.5 per person in government fees. In Tanzania, it would cost them USD 520 per night in government fees for the Serengeti and Namibia would comparatively cost them USD 22.....does anyone ask themselves if it is ethical to have to pay USD 130 per person to visit a world heritage site - which is a special place that should be able to be accessed by all peoples and not just the rich - like the Serengeti? The Serengeti is not a privately owned theme park like Disney Land, it is public space....shouldn’t it be priced in such a way to allow all people to see it? After all the Tanzanian government is only the curator of this amazing world heritage site. The Namibians seem to understand that. In most countries, as a foreigner you pay the same price as a citizen. Travel to Yellowstone National Park in the USA for example, a Tanzanian would pay the same price as an American.
Furthermore, you try to fly some internal flights in Tanzania and they have a ‘resident’ and ‘foreigner’ price. The difference in price between the two is huge. Why is this? Nowhere else in the world do you have such disparities between prices for citizens and tourists. Why is there such a mentality of ‘economic racism’ in Tanzania? I ask you, how do I recommend Tanzania to others?
I’ve been in Tanzania for 30 years now and i'm proud of where this nation is at when compared to what it was when I first arrived. It was a good decision to move here then and I’ve experienced the country’s economic and infrastructure growth over the 30 years. I’ve also run my businesses in what were challenging conditions but they have done well. All in all it has been a positive experience.
Over the past 30 years, I’ve welcomed many friends and always promoted Tanzania as a destination to be visited. During my time in Tanzania, I traveled extensively around Southern Africa (and other parts of the world) and seen how other African countries have developed over the same time period.
Having just come back from a road trip across Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, part of South Africa, and Namibia, all places I’ve visited multiple times since 2001, now, for the first time in 30 years I find myself in a difficult situation when trying to answer questions raised by friends wanting to travel to Tanzania. If I’m being objective I find it difficult to promote Tanzania like I did in the past.
The beauty of Tanzania has not worsened in 30 years. If anything it has improved, or been better exposed to the world. But for a foreigner, the cost of traveling within the country have become exorbitantly - or even prohibitively - high. Yesterday I replied to a person wanting to visit Ngoro Ngoro and the Serengeti. When adding up the costs I found it would cost each person approximately USD 130 per night in government fees to stay overnight in the Serengeti. To drive into the crater it would cost some USD 295 per vehicle and USD 72 per person....so imagine the cost of a family of four having two teenage children aged 16 or more, that would pay adult prices!
I then told the person to consider rather traveling to Namibia, where a visit to Etosha National Park, an iconic park in its own right and Africa’s third biggest, where a family of 4 having two teenage children would pay USD 5.5 per person in government fees. In Tanzania, it would cost them USD 520 per night in government fees for the Serengeti and Namibia would comparatively cost them USD 22.....does anyone ask themselves if it is ethical to have to pay USD 130 per person to visit a world heritage site - which is a special place that should be able to be accessed by all peoples and not just the rich - like the Serengeti? The Serengeti is not a privately owned theme park like Disney Land, it is public space....shouldn’t it be priced in such a way to allow all people to see it? After all the Tanzanian government is only the curator of this amazing world heritage site. The Namibians seem to understand that. In most countries, as a foreigner you pay the same price as a citizen. Travel to Yellowstone National Park in the USA for example, a Tanzanian would pay the same price as an American.
Furthermore, you try to fly some internal flights in Tanzania and they have a ‘resident’ and ‘foreigner’ price. The difference in price between the two is huge. Why is this? Nowhere else in the world do you have such disparities between prices for citizens and tourists. Why is there such a mentality of ‘economic racism’ in Tanzania? I ask you, how do I recommend Tanzania to others?
