The Land Transport Regulatory Authority has just held consultative meetings with Tour Operators in Tanzania to review the recently amended acts, precisely the laws that directly affect the tourism industry.
The Director General of the Land Transport Regulatory Authority (LATRA), Mr Habib Saluo, reveals during the Arusha meeting that it was now time for tour operators to ensure that all their drivers are certified as per the authority regulations.
Under new amendments LATRA directs all tour companies to have all their drivers registered with the authority and be certified to that effect, after undertaking fresh tailormade examinations.
“We now want to have proper designation for tour drivers and also propose special police officers dedicated to the tourism department,” stated DG Saulo.
Also under the new regulatory framework, the authority is directing all vans and trucks used to transport tourists to have special inscriptions branded on the cars’ sides panels with the definitive words ‘Tour Services.’
These labelling requirements apply to all trucks transporting tourists to National Parks, Game Reserves and other destinations as well as vans used for airport transfers.
The other thing is that all tour vehicles should now be strictly carrying tourists only.
‘Tourist Service,’ vehicles may not carry any other unauthorized persons.
However, tour operators argued that, sometimes they also use same vehicles to transport members of staff or consultants, therefore this component needs to be reviewed.
Before the latest amendments get implemented, LATRA wanted inputs, suggestions and advice from stakeholders in the tourism industry, through their Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO).
The TATO Executive Director, Elirehema Maturo, lauded LATRA for taking the initiative of consulting stakeholders before implementing the new regulatory amendments that directly affect the tourism industry.
“We shall compile recommendations from our members and present them to LATRA so that they may adjust their proposed amendments accordingly for a win-win situation,” said Maturo.
Maturo stated that the interactive forum held in Arusha allowed key players in the tourism transport ecosystem to share input and ensure the revised licensing fees align with sustainable practices and the operational realities of the sector.
TATO said it continues to champion the interests of its members and the broader tourism industry in national policy discussions.
Testing the tour drivers
“For example, the issue of tour drivers being required to undergo LATRA examinations, there has to be a proper way of accomplishing this without disturbing the industry,” the TATO executive pointed out.
One of the LATRA officials, Mwadawa Sultan said the amendments undertaken by the regulator are meant to draw clear lines between each segment in the transport industry.
“Previously everything used to be bundled under the single Transport Licensing Act of 1973,” pointed out Ms Sultan, adding that digital transformation which has borne other forms of conveyance such as ‘Uber,’ ‘Bolt,’ ‘Electricity Cars,’ and ‘Cable Transportation,’ had not been taken into account.
Following the split of the former Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (SUMATRA) into the two entities of Land Transport Regulatory Authority (LATRA) and Tanzania Shipping Agencies (TASAC) in 2017, a number of guiding laws have since been amended.
They came with proposed changes to various transport regulations that directly affect the tourism transport sector.
Road Less Travelled
“And when you consider, LATRA seems to deal mostly with the Private Sector which essentially handles all forms of inland public transportation,” Mwadawa pointed out.
So far more than 4500 drivers have been registered with LATRA countrywide. They are included in the regulator’s digital data base, complete with fingerprints and facial recognition.
And LATRA says the exercise still ongoing, soon to include tour drivers. Their information will also be fed digitally into the authority database which can be accessed practically everywhere.
“Each driver must be identified with the vehicle they drive and classified under the type of work they do, from those who spend more than eight hours on the road, night bus drivers, truck drivers and those that handle school buses,” she said
A few years ago, Arusha, through the Regional Commissioner’s office and the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO) established special tourist police posts along highways, to inspect tour vehicles separately.
Arusha also launched a specially designated tourist desk at the central police station to handle matters related to foreign visitors with special care.
Background
Following a request from LATRA Management, TATO organized a crucial stakeholder engagement meeting to discuss proposed changes to various transport regulations that directly affect the tourism transport sector.
The regulations under review include The Land Transport Regulatory Authority (Private Hire Services) Regulations, 2020; The Transport Licensing (Goods Carrying Vehicles) Regulations, 2020 and The Transport Licensing (Public Services Vehicles) Regulations, 2020.
The regulations got gazetted on 27th December 2024 through TS No. 1082, 1083, and 1084 respectively.
At the end of the session, LATRA awarded TATO a Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of its outstanding efforts in promoting tourism through the provision of efficient land transport services.