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Issue 00472 |
June 9 - 15, 2007 |
issn 0856 - 9135 |
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Tourism |
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Tourism is engine of growth There is need to address climate change
By Guardian Reporter The tourism industry could positively contribute to poverty reduction initiatives only if issues related to climate change were properly addressed, former chairman of the Tanzania Tourist Corporation Andy Chande has said. ``As we talk of enhancing tourism`s contribution to poverty reduction we should address the need to tackle effects of climate change and degradation caused by nature and human-induced activities,`` said Chande when delivering a speech on the fourth IIPT African Conference on Peace through Tourism. In his paper presented in Kampala on last week, Chande said the current report on the vanishing snow of Mount Kilimanjaro and the receding numbers of flamingos of Lake Nakuru in Kenya were an indication that things were getting worse, hence the need to address them were paramount. ``These are striking cases that need to be taken into account and find remedial solutions that will ensure the sustainability of the tourism industry in East Africa,`` he said. ``Whilst we may not have control over the vanishing snow on Mount Kilimanjaro because of the reduced effects of pulses from the Indian Ocean, we should be able to take action against pollution caused by the climbers,`` he added. He said there was a need also to minimise the destruction of trees by elephants in national parks by protecting tree trunks with wires. He further noted that there was also a need to ensure that tourism contributed towards improving people`s livelihoods. For instance, Chande said, strategy should be planned to harness the benefits of technology to diversify markets to encourage park guides to learn the languages of tourists and to develop entertainment attractions, among others. This year a multidisciplinary panel comprising an American broadcasting company, Good Morning America and USA Today, named Tanzania`s Serengeti National Park the site of the world`s great migrating animals and the seventh new wonder of the world. Chande said that tourism industry, if used properly, could also contribute to strategies geared to meeting the UN Millennium Development Goals. ``For many countries in the world tourism has become a crucial vehicle towards the ultimate goal of achieving sustainable peace. With a contribution of more than USD 5 trillion annually, tourism is offering millions of jobs and many more indirectly, thus endeavouring to make hospitality-related industry as the engine of growth,`` he said. ``This sector is a leading money
spinner while in Tanzania, South Africa and Mauritius it is number
two,`` he added.
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