TembeaNyumbani, Swahili for Visit Home, is a
call to the citizens of the countries in the East African Community to visit
each other's countries -- in an effort to promote domestic and regional tourism
business in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.In the spirit of East
African unity, the tourism body is drawing wisdom from the popular adage that
as an East African, any East African country you travel to is a home away from
home.
Undertaken in partnership with stakeholders,
the campaign will promote different tourist packages within the region. The
campaign aims to spur tourism business within the region by showcasing the many
hidden gems as well as affordableand exciting holiday packages that can
beexplored in what the world has come to know as Africa'smagical destinations.
It is expected that an increase in interest to
travel within the region will revive the tourism industry, which is a lifeline
for millions of people.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the tourism
sector had become one of the most lucrative, but the pandemic brought it to its
knees. As uptake of vaccines increases and recovery efforts start, many nations
are cooperatingto revive tourism.
Before Covid-19, tourism contributed to the
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of EAC Partner States by an average of 9.5% in
2019. It contributed an average of 17.2% to EAC total exports and 7.1% to
employment. Research shows that EAC Partner States lost international tourism
receipts to the tune of USD 4.8 billion in the year 2020.
In terms of impact on employment, it is
estimated that 2 million tourism jobs in the region were lost.
Efforts todeal with challenges associated with
Covid-19 on domestic and regional tourism should focus on the longterm, beyond
the pandemic, inorder to enable the industry to reviveand thrive sustainably to
withstand future shocks.
The EAC has a lot to offer in terms of
products and attractions, with its enormous untapped tourism and hospitality
potential.
Different discounted packages for East Africans
areavailable on the TembeaNyumbani platform
https://tembeanyumbani.visiteastafrica.net/The site features various tourist
attractions, culinary experiences, tour offers and diverse travel experiences
in the EAC.
It will facilitate people to navigate and find
a range of offers within the region and enable business owners to connect with
customers easily. We are inviting all East Africans to visit the portal to
start exploring beautiful East Africa.
Speaking about the launch, EATP Board Member
and CEO of the Tourism Confederation of Tanzania, Mr. Richard Rugimbana, said:
"The tourism economy is at a crossroads.
The coronavirus has heavily hit it, but this
pandemic also brought us opportunities to explore new markets, open up new
destinations, encourage innovation as well as think new and sustainabletourism
development models."'
"The crisis is an opportunity to think
about the present and the future. With the hard-hitting decline in
international arrivals and recovery to pre-crisis levels not expected before
2023, TembeaNyumbani will provide the much-needed boost to help sustain our
region's many tourism destinations and businesses. Besides promoting domestic
and regional tourism, this campaignwill be a key driver of business recovery in
the short to medium term."
"Recently, we re-introduced
thewww.visiteastafrica.netportal where tourists can plan and book tour packages
and offers from service providers in the region.
This is an addition to a great achievement of
the East Africa Tourism Platform and its commitment to continue offering value
to its members."
More than 830 regional tour operators and
travel agents will now be able to market and sell their packages through
TembeaNyumbani. More travel operators are welcome to join the platform, at no
cost, by registering through their respective country tour associations.
Mrs. AnatariaKarimba, Director of Business
Competitiveness at TradeMark East Africa (TMEA), said: "A return to
pre-Covid-19 international tourist arrival levels may seem far off as travel
restrictions still hold.
However, this should encourage us asthe
Partner States to work together in addressing the impact of the pandemic on the
tourism sector and in joint tourism recovery efforts."
"Tourism is one of the world's major
economic sectors, and the current crisis is an opportunity for us to rethink
how we do things. One of the vital lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic is that
domestic and regional tourism markets are very important. In such situations,
they can help make the tourism sector resilient.
We need to focus more effort on developing
many creative and innovative packages for domestic and regional tourism.
TembeaNyumbani is long overdue."
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