Students pursuing various courses in hospitality management have been urged to promote domestic tourism in the country.
An assistant Conservation Commissioner with the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) Paulina Mkama, said here at the weekend that those interested in pursuing careers in tourism related fields have to have such a passion burning in them and strive to promote domestic tourism once they get employed.
Ms Mkama, who was speaking at the National College of Tourism here at the weekend, said the onus was on the career aspirants to become good ambassadors of the kind of tourism which involves residents traveling only within Tanzania.
“If anything, you should be the ones visiting and sampling the natural attractions as you continue to pursue your careers,” challenged the conservation commissioner.
According to Ms Mkama, the students had a noble duty of also encouraging their friends and relatives to visit national parks in the country as a way of generating employment and economic growth through revenues accrued from the entry fees.
She said: You should be walking the talk… convincing others to visit the parks while doing the same.
While countries often tend to focus on international tourism due to the revenue earned through exports, domestic tourism remains the leading form of tourism, representing 73 per cent of the global tourism spend in 2017.
National College of Tourism – Arusha Campus was established in 1993 by the harms Seidel Foundation of Munich Germany and the Arusha Municipal Council with the aim of providing appropriate vocational skills to students who would like to seek a career in the hotel industry.
The college has been taken over by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism on July 2008 as part of its National College of Tourism.
The campus is strategically located in the northern circuit where demand for tourism services is very high which raised the demand for qualified personnel.
The college is currently offering hospitality Programmes at certificate level where the existing infrastructure has the capacity to accommodate up to 150 students annually.