East African regional tourism expo slated for October

DODOMA, Tanzania

Tanzania will host the first-ever East African Community Regional Tourism Expo from October 9 to the 16th in the northern tourist city of Arusha, an official said on Thursday.

The expo aims to attract tourists and promoting investment in the tourism industry within the East African Community (EAC) member states.

Mary Masanja, the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, told a news conference in the capital Dodoma that hosting of the tourism expo will be rotational in all the EAC member states of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.

Masanja said the hosting of the tourism expo in the East African regional bloc was approved by EAC ministers of wildlife and tourism in July 2021 under a Tourism Marketing Strategy (2021-2025).

She said the East African Regional Tourism Expo will be a forum for bringing together state and non-state tourism actors to showcase the rich and diverse tourism attractions and investment opportunities in the region.

The official said the expo will also be a platform for business-to-business engagements and dialogue aimed at the recovery of the tourism and wildlife sectors.

According to Masanja, the expo will address various issues, including tourism resilience and crisis management, digital tourism marketing, promotion of multi-destination tourism packages, collaboration and cooperation in combating poaching and illegal wildlife trade in the region.

"The expo is also a great opportunity to strengthen conservation of natural and cultural resources as well as stimulating tourism growth, particularly conference tourism,” she added.