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The government of Zanzibar hopes to attract 500 000 tourists by 2020 through joint venture business and training programmes with Indonesia and other states looking to partner with the island.
Zanzibar’s President, Dr. Ali Mohammed Shein, said his government was targeting these tourists in a bid to attract Indonesian business ventures to invest in the island’s marine-based economy and tourism sector, in particular beach and marine tourism.
President Shein said Zanzibar was looking to capitalise on experience from Indonesia to fast track its tourism development, with the training of tourism personnel and development of high-class hotels being the key focal areas the island was hoping to benefit from.
On a recent visit to Indonesia, Shein invited investors to venture into seaweed cultivation, which accounts for an estimated 24 000 jobs in Zanzibar. The island is currently the world’s third-largest producer of seaweed, after Indonesia and the Philippines.
The President said there were also plans to develop a marine-based economy using the island’s rich Indian Ocean resources, and that his government was open to investors who could make the island into a business hub in East Africa.
Shein said: “We will create an enabling environment for local and international companies to fulfil their investment ambitions without obstacles,” reports East African Business Week.
With a population of about one million, Zanzibar’s economy relies heavily on tourism and international trade.
Source: tourismupdate.co.za
