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Tanzania rated as best tourism spot
TANZANIA has been rated as the best destination for tourists in Africa followed in second and third places by Botswana and Kenya respectively.
The ratings are a result of a research by a Netherlands-based tourists’ website, safaribookings.com, through collecting reviews and star ratings online where Tanzania garnered 188 reviews with 4.8 out of a five-star rating.
Botswana got 136 reviews with a 4.7 out of a five-star rating; Kenya managed 148 reviews with 4.6 out of a five-star rating; Zambia came in fourth with 62 reviews and a 4.6 rating; South Africa was fifth with 191 reviews and a 4.5 rating.
Namibia got 64 reviews with a 4.5 rating settling at the sixth spot; Uganda came in seventh with 86 reviews and a rating of 4.2 and Zimbabwe settled eighth with 66 reviews and a rating of 4.1.
In his statement on May 20, 2015, the Minister for Tourism and Natural Resources, Mr Lazaro Nyalandu, said the ratings announced by CNN recently are a result of hard work in publicising the country’s tourist attraction sites around the globe.
“These positive results are a result of steps taken by the government and the nation in general in the whole issue surrounding tourism and conservation, most so in protection of our natural resources against poaching.
“The effort is tailored to enable the tourism sector become the number one contributor to the nation’s economy,” Mr Nyalandu noted in the statement.
He said these efforts have also resulted in positive achievements in the anti poaching efforts in the nation’s national parks and forest reserves through various initiatives, including the Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority (TAWA).
“The number of wild animals that were in danger of extinction are now increasing. The situation has also seen an increase in the number of tourists visiting our national parks, which has led Tanzania to be named the best tourist destination in Africa,” he explained.
Mr Nyalandu said the results showed that 1,000 people from 53 countries were involved in the studies out of which the maximum points were five, where Tanzania garnered 4.8 points, Botswana 4.75, Kenya 4.66; Zambia 4.58; South Africa 4.55; Namibia 4.54; Uganda 4.16 and Zimbabwe 4.14.
According to Mr Nyalandu, the researchers noted that among reasons why Tanzania was favoured by tourists include having a lot of national parks out of which two are under UNESCO.
He said 10 out of 16 national parks which include Ngorongoro Crater, Selous, Serengeti and Tarangire have also been mentioned as another catalyst of attracting tourists to Tanzania for having the big five. These are lions, elephants, leopards, buffalo and rhinos.
One of the 16 expert reviewers, Mr Tim Bewer, a travel writer who has covered 10 African countries for Lonely Planet’s Africa, East Africa and West Africa guidebooks, said Tanzania is home to Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater.
This fact alone makes a solid case for declaring it Africa’s best safari country but, of course, there is much more than just these two places.
“But what surprises people and attracts many safari veterans, is the quality of the parks in the rest of Tanzania, which has set aside a full one-third of its land as wildlife preserves.
“Some of the other safari destinations, like Katavi National Park, Ruaha National Park and Selous Game Reserve, offer wildlife watching at par with the more famous parks, but without the crowds,” he noted on the Safaribookings. com website.
One of the 169 user reviewers by the name Jersey Molly from the US expressed her desire to spend more time at the Ngorongoro Crater
