 Tanzania is endowed with abundant resources. It has enjoyed peace and political stability for a long time. Yet it is one of the poorest countries. There are plenty of opportunities we have failed to utilise. Take tourism. The Philippines, which has fewer tourist attractions than Tanzania, received 4.7 million tourists last year. It created 3.8 million jobs. Only 930,385 visited us in the same period.
This is according to the Parliamentary Committee on Land, Natural Resources and Environment report presented in parliament on Tuesday. Had the government made the sector a priority, it would have contributed greatly to the economy.
It is quite disturbing that experts are often excluded from foreign trips that politicians enjoy—and this when they appear not to learn strategies and practices that they could try at home.
We are aware that one of the areas that consume a lot of money is travelling abroad in terms of the number of delegations and their per diem allocations. Our politicians enjoy travelling abroad. Very few people would not. But we do expect them to bring home something they have learned on their journeys that could make a difference in the lives of the people and the country in general.
If experts had an opportunity to go abroad, they would probably market our tourist attractions far better. They have the skills to do so and extensive knowledge of our country’s assets. If politicians are genuinely up to speed on the virtues of Brand Tanzania, why is it that they do not bring home strategies to help reduce poverty and raise living standards?
There is nothing more depressing than being stuck in a rut and never trying anything new. Once more, we want to appeal to the government to pay heed to the views of the people: Please engage with local experts and give them a chance to apply their knowledge in areas where we need direction. Foreign trips would help market our country if they were not treated simply as outings.
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