The World Tourism Forum Opens in Zanzibar

There is a group of delegates from over 16 countries who have gathered in Zanzibar to discuss the different major roles that the tourism industry plays as far as ensuring economic growth and development on the in developing countries is concerned.  Zanzibar is among the Tanzania’s independent archipelago as well as the world’s most popular tourist destination in East Africa with various tourist attractions ranging from historical sites, geographical features as well as wildlife.

There were tour operators and policy makers who are attending the Second International Conference on Sustainable Tourism in Developing Countries (ICTS-DS,. their presentations were about the on approaches that are used in the different countries to improve the tourism sector which is the major source of income and also the major drive for economic growth as well as source of foreign currency earning in so many developing countries.

Meanwhile, Said Ali Mbarouk who is Zanzibar’s minister of Information, Tourism and Culture said during the grand opening of the ceremony that for the past two decades strategic plans have been the key to building the sector, which eventually benefit the local residents. He also urged the delegates to use this opportunity to get the different opinions that the people have so that they can set the right direction for the sector and to do this, we should involve the local communities in building a sustainable industry.

The conference will last two days, under the theme “Challenges in Tourism Development and Sustainability” and it was organized by the Department of Marketing of University of Dar es Salaam Business School (UDBS). It was intended to help find emanate from the different researches on matters concerning the tourism industry as well as practical experiences from which we can derive solutions to different problems facing the tourism industry in developing countries. Participants came from Uganda, Kenya, Namibia, America, Germany, South Africa, New Zealand, Nigeria, Israel, Iran, Mexico, Sweden United Kingdom, South Korea, Bostwana and India. And more than 45 papers were presented during the conference and its discussions will be publicized through publications of conference minutes and journal in different articles in papers.