Dar floats four tourism attractions for continental honours awards

FOUR tourism-oriented Tanzanian Institutions have been nominated to take part in the 24th Annual World Travel Awards whose 2017 edition is slated for the Rwandan capital city Kigali, later this year.

Top tourism features such as the Ngorongoro Crater, which lies within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), the Serengeti National Park, which is the country’s second largest game park being pivoted from Seronera and Africa’s Highest Peak, Mount Kilimanjaro in Moshi have been enlisted for the prestigious WTA honours.

Also in the race is the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) which joins the other three entries from Tanzania for the 24th Annual World Travel Awards (WTA), an event set to take place at ‘Radison Blu Hotel & Convention Center on Wednesday the 11th of October 2017, where winners in different categories will be announced in the dazzling red-carpet ceremony that will welcome hospitality leaders and luminaries from across the regions.

A statement from Mr Geoffrey Tengeneza, the Information Officer with the Tanzania Tourist Board reveals that, Serengeti National Park is competing under Africa’s leading National Park 2017 category, racing against Central Kalahari Game Reserve (Bostwana), Etosha National Park (Namibia), Kidepo Valley National Park (Uganda), Kruger National Park (South Africa), and the Masai Mara National Reserve of Kenya.

On the other hand, the continent’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro and Ngorongoro Crater both from Tanzania, are competing against the legendary Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, Nelson Mandela inspired, Robben Island of Cape Town, South Africa, the Table Mountain also in South Africa, and V&A Waterfront beach and port again in Cape-Town South Africa. Those features are all vying for the ‘Africa’s Leading Tourist Attraction 2017’ title of which Mount Kilimanjaro had won last year.

The Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB), the state-owned entity responsible for marketing and promoting the country as a unique destination, is competing under the ‘Africa’s leading Tourist Board 2017’ category alongside the Egyptian Tourist Authority, Gambia Tourism Board, Ghana Tourism Authority, Kenya Tourism Board and Moroccan National Tourism Organization.

Others vying for the tourism marketing title include Namibia Tourism Board, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, Rwanda Development Board, South Africa Tourism and Zanzibar Commission for Tourism During last year’s African Travel Awards, the Moshi located Mount Kilimanjaro was declared the best tourist attraction, beating other popular tourist destinations on the continent in the ‘2016 Africa’s Leading Tourist Attraction,’.