Travel
NO THROUGH ROAD: The Kenyan tour operators say they are incurring extra costs, because they have to use a roundabout
route to get to Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.
MWANZA, TANZANIA - Tanzania government is reviewing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 1985 with Kenya over a tourist border entry point at Bologonja, Northern Tanzania.
This is a follow-up from the February 20, 2014 resolution of ministers for natural resources and tourism from Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda who met in Arusha.
Tanzania’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism on May 2, 2014 wrote to different stakeholders that they have to meet over the matter on May 7, 2014.
The letter addressed to the Tanzania Tourist Board, Tanzania National Parks Authority (Tanapa), Ngorongoro Conservation Authority, Tanzania Federation of Tourists and the Tanzania Tourist Organisation was signed by Deogratias J. Mdamu, the Permanent Secretary.
He reminded them of a request by Kenya seeking the reopening of Bologonja border post for ease of tour operators.
“According to the MoU, such request was against the agreement,” Mdamu wrote.
Mdamu said the Arusha ministerial meeting instructed Kenya and Tanzania to review the tourism agreement between the two countries within six months from February 20, 2014.
The letter said the ministers had issued an instruction that before any decision to re-open Bologonja border post, a study should be conducted to know both advantages and disadvantages of reopening the border point.
“Such study would lead the Tanzania government to make a correct decision about Bologonja,” the letter reads in part. The border post has been closed for nearly 40 years.
The Kenyans say the continued closure of the border post at Bologonja forces tourists van drivers to make a roundabout five hour drive from Maasai Mara via Sirari (Tanzania) border point to get to Serengeti National Park.
The Kenyans claim politics plays a great deal in the matter, because their Tanzanian colleagues say the closure is a government protective measure to protect Tanzanian jobs.
Some Kenyan tour operators opt to drive back to Nairobi for an overnight stopover before proceeding to Arusha via Namanga the next day to drive on to the Serengeti.
For Kenyan tour players, the decision to open the Bologonja crossing would dramatically reduce travel time and costs between the Maasai Mara in Kenya and the Serengeti in Tanzania.
By Andrew Zablon, Saturday, May 17th, 2014
http://www.busiweek.com/index1.php?Ctp=2&pI=1169&pLv=3&srI=57&spI=23&cI=19
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