Tanzania plans to hold more trade fairs in the country to to boost tourism. 

This follows the successful staging of a two-day tourism fair in Arusha from May 28-29 that attracted over 130 companies from East Africa, Germany and the United Kingdom. 

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Mr Philemon Luhanjo, told The EastAfrican recently that Tanzania would market the tourism industry through travel and trade fairs. 

Mr Luhanjo said that Tanzania had opted for regional tourism marketing strategies to complement the expensive foreign tourism promotion drives, in which only few local participants take part.

"In future years, we want to organise intra-African tourism exhibitions rather than looking to European and American fairs, which do little in the promotion of domestic tourism," he said. 

The 2002 Karibu Tanzania Travel and Trade Fair, held in Arusha, was organised by the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (Tato), the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) and the European Union. 

The fair was also attended by the Kenya Wildlife Services and Uganda Wildlife Authority. 

The TTB managing director, Mr Peter Mwenguo, described the fair as a bridge between players in the local tourism industry and their regional counterparts, which provides an opportunity to share ideas and exchange business contacts. 

Mr Mwenguo said he was confident that locally organised tourism exhibition could boost local and regional tourism and sustain the industry in Tanzania instead of depending wholly on foreign markets. 

Tato executive secretary, Mr Mustapha Akunaay said the exhibition was an ideal strategy to market Tanzania's tourism and at the same time attract foreign participants who in turn would market the country abroad. 

The annual Karibu Tanzania Travel and Trade Fair is packaged as a product of the stakeholders in the local tourism industry to enable participants to discover exciting new products and emerging enterprises. It provides an opportunity for participants to visit traditional destinations such Mt Kilimanjaro, the national parks and cultural sites. 

Stakeholders see the new annual event as the best strategy to market Tanzania tourism industry.

Tanzanian participants included members of the key tourist and travel trade associations. These were Tato, the Tanzania Hunting Operators Association, the Tanzania Association of Travel Agents, the Hotel Keepers Association of Tanzania, All African Travel Tours Association and Tanzania Air Operators Association.