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By DORITHY NDEKETELA Special Correspondent
Posted Saturday, December 22 2012 at 14:25
IN SUMMARY
- Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the airline to promote trade fairs to attract tourists not only from Ethiopia but from all destinations where the airline flies.
- The partnership is expected to benefit both Ethiopia and Tanzania through direct retail channels as well as packages from tour operators.
Tanzania is seeking to grow its tourism earnings by tapping into the African market through the Ethiopian Airlines network to reduce its reliance on European and Asian tourists.
The Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the airline to promote trade fairs to attract tourists not only from Ethiopia but from all destinations where the airline flies.
The partnership is expected to benefit both Ethiopia and Tanzania through direct retail channels as well as packages from tour operators.
"We are expecting to expand and connect with other countries through the Ethiopian Airlines especially in the North American market," said Aloyce Nziku, the managing director of TTB.
Tourism earned Tanzania $1.471 billion in the year ending June, 2012, making it the second biggest source of foreign currency after gold.
Ethiopian Airlines currently provides extensive airlift to Tanzania's three major gateways of Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar. Tanzania is hoping to tap into Ethiopian Airlines extensive African reach and its aggressive fleet expansion (49 aircraft currently, plus 38 on order, including 28 long-haul aircraft) and its growing route network in Europe and Asia.
Ethiopian flies to four destinations in China, two in India and Bangkok and is evaluating flying to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul.
Locally, the Tanzania National Parks (Tanapa) has set aside Tsh5 billion ($3.2 million) for the fiscal year 2012/2013 to improve accommodation in the Mount Kilimanjaro national park to boost local tourism.
