Tanzania is set to host the United Nations World Tourism Organization [UNWTO] Commission for Africa in October next year.
UNWTO endorsed Tanzania as the candidate and host of the 65th UNWTO Commission for Africa 2022 meeting after this African nation expressed its readiness to host the high-profile tourism gathering.
The meeting is expected to take place in Arusha, the tourist city in northern Tanzania.
Participants will get chances to visit key the leading wildlife parks and Mount Kilimanjaro, apart from several cultural heritage sites in the area.
UNWTO had endorsed Tanzania to host the meeting during ministerial meetings held in Namibia and Cape Verde in June and early this year in which African tourism ministers gathered to discuss the continent’s tourism platform on investments.
The UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili had accepted the request by Tanzania the host of the meeting during the Brand Africa Summit that was organized by UNWTO and held in Windhoek [Namibia] in June this year.
Brand Africa meeting had attracted 15 Tourism Ministers from this continent who agreed to work together to find a solution that would revitalize the continent’s tourism industry currently affected badly by Coronavirus [COVID-19] pandemic.
The ministers pledged to work together then establish a new narrative for tourism development platforms across the African continent.
The decision to endorse Tanzania as the candidate to host the 65th UNWTO Commission for Africa Meeting next year was made at the 64th UNWTO Commission for Africa Meeting that was held in Sal Island of Cape Verde last week.
“We have discussed the 65th meeting of the World Tourism Organization [UNWTO] to be held in Tanzania which would put this nation on the tourism map,” Tanzania Minister for Tourism Dr. Damas Ndumbaro said.
The next year’s scheduled meeting is expected to draw 54 tourism ministers from all African states.
The Minister had led the Tanzanian delegation to the meeting of which elected this African nation a member of the UNWTO Program and Budget Committee [PBC].
UNWTO’s African Member States will work together to establish a new narrative for tourism across the continent.
To better realize tourism’s potential to drive recovery, UNWTO and its Members will also work with the African Union and the private sector to promote the continent to new global audiences through positive, people-centered storytelling and effective branding.
With tourism recognized as an essential pillar of sustainable and inclusive development for the continent, UNWTO had welcomed high-level delegates to the first Regional Conference on Strengthening Brand Africa that was held in Namibia.
The conference featured the participation of the political leadership of host country Namibia, alongside public and private sector leaders from across the continent.
UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili welcomed the common determination to rethink as well as restart tourism.
“African destinations must take the lead in celebrating and promoting the continent’s vibrant culture, youthful energy and entrepreneur spirit, and its rich gastronomy,” he said.
By Lucky Onoriode George [Lagos-Nigeria]