The majority of respondents to our latest poll agree that overcrowding poses a threat to tourism in Botswana’s Chobe National Park. The issue – including traffic congestion and strain on infrastructure in the park’s riverfront area – came to the fore in a meeting between government and tourism stakeholders in August.
Readers’ responses to our poll indicate that 79% believe overcrowding poses a threat to tourism in Chobe, just 5% don’t believe it’s a threat and the remaining 16% are “Unsure”.
Tanzania air tax a major deterrent?
Concerns have been raised that the introduction of a US$90 air passenger tax by Tanzania, for all international return trips, will deter visits to the East African country.
Several Tourism Update readers have expressed concerns that the new tax, on the back of government’s proposal to introduce a US$44 mandatory travel insurance fee, will have a detrimental impact on the destination’s affordability.
“It will harm tourism and trade and, of course, the airline industry at large, no doubt. It would be interesting to gauge how many people are put out by this step and will subsequently not travel to destinations taking these measures versus the amount of money these travellers would have spent in the country,” commented Nils Heckscher, MD and Head of Africa at PKF Consulting.
We’d love to hear your thoughts.
Our poll question this week is: