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Tanzanian Park Fees to Increase |
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The Tanzanian Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Zakia H. Meghji, has announced that park entry fees for the Kilimanjaro and Serengeti National Parks will increase to US$60 and US$50 per person per day respectively from 1 January 2006.
The fees presently stand at US$30 per person per day for non-Tanzanian adult visitors. The new rates are likely to remain in place for a
year while a study is carried out to examine the impact of the change,
but a steeper rise may follow: the Arusha-based Tanzania National Park
Authority, TANAPA, has proposed a new rate of US$100 per head.
TANAPA’s
Director General, Gerald Bigurube, argues that vehicle congestion in
the parks is causing environmental degradation, and a price hike is a
necessary step towards remedying the situation.
Some safari operators are sceptical about the decision. Bill Adams of
Safari Consultants in the UK comments: “Tanzania’s tourist industry has
been blessed with a soaring growth rate in the last few years and a
park fee increase of US$20 or $30 a day is unlikely to have much short
term impact on visitor numbers. What we’d like to see is meaningful
investment in the upkeep and protection of the parks, but we fear that
any revenue gained from increases may merely disappear. Should the
infrastructure not improve, tourists may begin to see Tanzania as poor
value and will rightly question where all the money is going.”
Meanwhile, in a separate move to reduce vehicle damage, the Ngorongoro
Conservation Area Authority has decided to limit all game drives in the
Ngorongoro Crater to a maximum of six hour |
