Friday 26 November 2010

Tanzania to get new Tourism Minister

Tanzania, an upcoming African tourist destination, has a new tourism minister, Mr. Ezekiel Maige, who is taking over from the former counterpart in the same portfolio, Mrs. Shamsa Mwangunga.

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete appointed Mr. Maige to hold the full tourism ministerial portfolio in his newly-formed cabinet, which he announced Wednesday this week in Tanzania’s capital of Dar es Salaam.


Before his new appointment, Mr. Maige was a deputy minister in the same ministry before dissolution of the cabinet in August this year to pave way for general elections and the formation of a new government.


The new tourism minister will oversee challenges in Tanzania’s fast-growing tourist industry at the time that vigorous marketing campaigns to attract more tourists are taking place across the world.


Mr. Maige will be responsible to oversee daily activities affecting his ministry's departments, including wildlife and forest resources. His ministry is also responsible for controlling key tourist sites, including the 15 tourist wildlife parks, Ngorongoro Conservation Area where the famous Ngorongoro Crater is located, and Selous Game Reserve – the biggest and most natural wildlife reserve in Africa.


It is the home of the tallest mountain in Africa, the legendary Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, the world-acclaimed Ngorongoro Crater, Olduvai Gorge, Ruaha wildlife park - now the second largest National Park in Africa, and the spice islands of Zanzibar.