Is there room for domestic tourism in Africa? The case of Tanzania

ABSTRACT

The objective of this article is to examine factors that limit Tanzanian citizens’ visitation to protected areas. The study, involving 180 randomly selected individuals in the region of Arusha and Kilimanjaro from Dec 2018 to Feb. 2019, was qualitatively analysed through thematic analysis. The research findings indicate that the local interpretation of the tourism and protected areas coupled with lack of travel culture to experience, growth in wildlife resourced areas, lack of finances and shortage of affordable accommodation facilities have a significant effect on the low participation of Tanzanians to protected areas. For domestic tourism to take off, this study suggests some specific and appropriate interventions such as local oriented marketing, crafting products packages sensitive to local population, awareness campaigns and increase economic opportunities.

KEYWORDS:

• Domestic tourism
• limitations
• protected area tourism
• Tanzania

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 While National Parks and Ngorongoro Conservation Area allow only non-consumptive tourism, Game Reserves and Game Controlled Areas permit a combination of both trophy hunting and photographic tourism.

2 The data for domestic tourists include Tanzanian citizens, East African citizens, and foreign residents.