Tanzania: European, U.S. Billionaires Tour, Hail Serengeti
Arusha — NEARLY 100 top billionaires from Europe and the United States have completed their Tanzanian leg of African tour, describing the country’s second largest national park, Serengeti, as exemplary.
The second of the two groups of foreign tycoons, brought here through the Abercrombie & Kent Safari Company, were seen off at the Kilimanjaro International Airport on Tuesday by the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Mr Lazaro Nyalandu.
The team consisted of 42 affluent tourists. “Our next target in tourism is ensuring that wealth personalities from developed countries come in large numbers to visit Tanzanian attractions, in order to boost the country’s earnings,” explained Mr Nyalandu, adding the industry generated over US $ 1.7 million last year.
The Group Chairman of Abercrombie & Kent, Mr Geoffrey Kent stated that his company was committed to promote Tanzania, but especially the Serengeti National Park abroad because the country is essentially the only remaining area on the continent with truly preserved natural environment and wildlife.
A & K arranged to have the world billionaires come in two phases each comprising 42 people flying aboard a special Boeing 737 Business Jet.
The first team was here two-weeks ago in the continental tours taking off from Rome, Italy and then covering Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana and South-Africa.
It seems like their Tanzanian experience was good and the billionaires now intend to have more similar trips in future. Each of the two teams spent four days in the Northern Circuit making a total of 84 visitors who sampled the country’s tourism within just a fortnight.
Tanzania on the other hand targets to attract two million tourists per year by 2015. The country received more than 1 million visitors last year, according to the tourism minister who pointed out that the industry pumps in 17 per cent of national revenues.
source: allafrica.com