By Tourism-Review.Com
Published January 6, 2010

Though tourism employs 7.1% of the work force and accounts for 9% of the Gross Domestic Product of Tanzania, this sector faces a serious lack of skilled personnel and has to rely on foreign staffers. To mitigate against vagaries of life like the world economic crisis of 2009 that took a serious toll on the country’s economy, Tanzania is shifting focus to beach tourism.

Dr. Ladislaus Komba, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, says the Tanzanian tourism college needs to produce more graduates to tap the demand for specialised tourism employees.

The Safari tourism, that Tanzania relies on, is the sector that was hit the hardest by the world economic crisis. The number of visitors dropped considerably.

Jakaya Kikwete, the country’s President whose recent visit to the Caribbean exposed him to the developed beach tourism market there, now says Tanzania needs to capitalise on her beautiful pristine beaches as the Caribbean nations do. There are hundreds of kilometres of warm beaches in Tanzania that await development.

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The nation’s tourism, like that of the rest of East Africa(Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda)is mainly based on wild life. To lure more visitors the authorities thus plan to diversify the offer, develop new beach resorts and attract foreign investors. Infrastructure improvements are also part of the projects as well as raising the quality of tourism services that are provided.

Meanwhile Tanzanian fashion designer, Ally Rehmtullah, launched his 2009 collection, ‘2025’, in Tunisia during the Catwalk for Africa 2009.

The event, according to Rehmtullah, “was born in an effort to revitalize, redefine and significantly increase the presence of the African fashion in the global market.”

The brainchild of entrepreneurs Arlette Ngo Badjeck and Gwladys Ngo Tedga, the aim of Catwalk for Africa 2009 was to ‘bring a new vibe to the fashion scene and textile industry.’

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African fashion’s new wave, represented by Bot I Lam and Pacy Kone, rocked the runway together with internationally-acclaimed designers Imane Ayissi, Rehmtullah, Martial Tapolo and several top Tunisian designers. Ludovic and Frederic de La Chapelle, both from the French capital Paris, took care of the hair & make up of the models and photography, respectively.

The fashion show took place at the Oasis Night Club, located at the heart of Yasmine Hammamet, on Saturday, December 5, 2009.