South Sudan, the world’s youngest country has debuted into the maiden East African regional Tourism exposition taking place in Arusha, wanting a piece of the game.
The South Sudan’s Minister for Wildlife Conservation and Tourism, Rizik Zacharia Hassan, said the world’s youngest country was now open for travel business.
“We have abundant tourist attractions ranging from cultural tourism to unique geographical features,” pointed out the South Sudan Minister, as he was speaking at the Exposition.
Tanzania’s Minister for the Natural Resources and Tourism, Damas Ndumbaru, disclosed that the first ever East African Tourism expo has attracted 400 exhibitors.
He added that, more than 15 African countries have been sending high level representatives to the event.
The Minister used the occasion to announce that Tanzania is preparing to host the forthcoming United Nations (UN ) World Tourism meeting of African Ministers of Tourism in Arusha in January 2022.
The East African Community, Secretary General, Peter Mathuki revealed that the EAC Member States together lost 92 percent of tourism revenues, from the global Covid-19 pandemic which stifled international travel industry.
He was on view that the Expo should be threshold towards, reviving the slumped Regional Tourism industry with aggressive promotions.
But precisely hatching joint domestic tourism among the six member states with over 150 million residents between them.
On his part, Kenya’s Chief Administrative Secretary, Joseph Boinnet, observed that the region’s wildlife resources were facing increasing demands for farmland by communities neighboring wildlife sanctuaries.
The Chief Administrative Secretary said EAC should therefore invest in areas that will ensure wildlife resources are managed sustainably vis-à-vis competing factors such as climate change and competing land use patterns.
Mr. Boinnet underscored the importance of resilience in the tourism sector for purposes of keeping the sector buoyant enough to withstand all manner of shocks and challenges in a post-COVID-19 era.
Other top delegates attending the event were the Botswana Tourism Ministers Philda Nani Kereng, Sierra Leone Tourism Minister, Memunata B. Pratt, and the Eswatini Minister Moses Vilakati.
Others were the East African Legislative Assembly Speaker, Ngoga Martin, the Judge President of the East African Court of Justice, Justice Nestor Kayobera, Tanzania’s Permanent Secretary for Natural Resources and Tourism Allan Kijazi, and the Executive Chairman of the African Tourism Board, Mr. Cuthbert Ncube.
Also present were EALA Members of Parliament and Members of the Diplomatic Community led by Kenya’s High Commissioner to Tanzania, Dan Kazungu.
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