Mass tourism bad for Zanzibar says minister

IN order to limit the damage to the environment and sustain profitable tourism, Zanzibar’s tourism ministry is on a campaign to discourage mass tourism to the islands, reports The East African newspaper. Zanzibar minister for trade, industry, marketing and tourism, Mussa A. Silima, was speaking at last week’s World Travel Market when he said that mass tourism causes harm to the environment and the money tourists spend at non five-star establishments does not outweigh the damage they cause. He is quoted by the newspaper as saying: “We have realised that this kind of tourism isn’t good for our environment and our economy. You have more tourists who at the end of the day pay very little for their stay, bringing in revenue not commensurate with their numbers.” Silima said that the number of ‘uncategorised hotels’ that offer cheap accommodation encourage large numbers of tourists to visit Zanzibar and that his ministry wishes to encourage the development of more five-star hotels, thereby limiting the number of tourists. “When we invited the private sector to invest in the industry, little did we know that such a problem would arise. However, we must now bring it to a minimum the number of uncategorised hotels and encourage investors to build five-star hotels,” said Silima. The ministry is working closely with the Tanzania Tourist Board to synchronise policies in order to curb mass tourism on the isles and on the mainland. (Darren Sandras)