Executive Board Meeting

MINUTES

Date: Wednesday 14^th December 2011

Venue: ZATI Office

Time: 1000-1400hrs

Present:

Chairman – Abdulsamad

Deputy Chairman – Bobby McKenna

Honorary Member  – Simai Mohammed Said

Honorary Member – Paolo Chiaro

Honorary Member – Carl Salisbury

Christian Chillcot – Member

Seif Miskri – Member

Tonino Garau – Member

ZATI Director – Julia Bishop

Absent with Apologies:

Executive Secretary – Maryam Olsen

Coordinator of Pemba – Farhat Jah

Treasurer – Eleanor Griplas

Member and Coordinator of Nungwi Peninsula– Nassor Salum Ali

1. Welcome and Apologies

The Chairman opened the meeting at 1010 and welcomed those present.

1. Minutes of last meeting

Actions from the previous minutes were discussed, approved and signed by the Chairman. Also the minutes from the AGM the previous week.

The Chairman commented following the action from the previous meeting that after the Mapinduzi celebrations in February there will be a KMKM and JKU meeting regarding security for hotels, but they are not available until this time.

1. Finances and Membership

Finances :

There is $5961 in the KCB USD account, 1,034,558/= in the shillings account.

There is $12,000 from membership fees yet to pay received at the AGM, as well as $4200 from the ZATI brochure advertising and 7,500,000/= from PBZ.

There will be approximately $8000 carried over to 2012 at the end of the year – we budgeted $10,000.   The new engine for the director’s car has been an unexpected expense, and electricity is more than budgeted, but otherwise we are approximately on budget with all items.

All bills and annual fees are fully paid up for the year.

The net profit from the AGM was 804,800/= as sponsorship was 7,500,000/= and costs were 6,695,200/=.

The petty cash total for the end of the year will be 676,000/=.  There are no more expenses to be paid.

It was agreed that we will open an account with PBZ in the future.

The accounts should all be ain good order in the case of an auditor needing to check.

Membership:

We had 105 registered and paid up members this year and our membership income was $33,495.00.

The membership fees have not increased.

It was mentioned by Christian that we need to manage expectations as well as perceptions of our membership. This includes communicating better the security issues between members.  Membership of ZATI has made a plateau line becuae of lack of management time to go around recruiting more members, and the need to be clearer about the benefits.  Better communication through the website could be one way of addressing this.

All members will be asked to pay up their fees by the ZATI dinner party.

1. Subjects for Discussion:

4.1        ZATI Assistance

The director has said she will do one more year of ZATI but at a considerable reduced amount of work.   An assistant is sought and Abdulsamad will recommend one next eyar.

Members agreed that the new ZATI website has been modernized and refreshed.

4.2 ZATI Website

It is not working properly, director has no time to fix it, Christian will assist.  Director has asked for permission for Christian to be an admin for this purpose.  Links are not working and nor are the blogs.

4.3 Destination Marketing

Bobby will select a group to discuss ITB and marketing strategy in January and report back to the next Board Meeting.

Abdulsamad will discuss ITB with Ali Amour.

4.4 2012 ZATI Dinner Party

Eleanor and Maryam have resigned from the committee which will now comprise Simai, Abdul, Julia and Shamsa, together with staff from ZBR.  The date is set at February 25^th.

At the Zanzibar beach Resort.  The President or the US ambassador will be the Guest of honour – Simai nad Abdul will make contact.

4.5 Executive Board vacancy

The board agreed that Seif will become treasurer in Maryam’s place.  The Governing Council have to approve this and have to select a new replacement on the board.

4.6 Regional Representation

The regional groups are set up, with active groups in Stone Town (lead by Daniel Sambai of Serena), Nungwi (lead by Nassor Maharouk of Mnarani), North-East (lead by Nick Veitch of Hotcat) and South East (lead by Ivan Kodech of Cristal Resort). Julia Burton from Blue Bay is the newly appointed Kiwengwa rep.

Julia will write to Abdulsamad with the contact details of all these reps –

Contact details of regional reps are as follows:

North – NASSOR – mnarani@zanlink.com
Matemwe – NICK – hotcat.suppliers@gmail.com
Kiwengwa – JULIAN – gm@bluebayzanzibar.com
East Coast – IVAN – info@cristalresort.net
Town – DANIEL – dsambai@serena.com

Abdul will -

• Contact them all to confirm their responsibilities.
• Send updated copy of their ZATI role – from Seif
• Ask them for details for their badges – contact
• Write letter of introduction for them – to confirm they are operating on behalf of ZATI
• Let them know that we are holding a security meeting – regional or central.
• Given them the date of the security meeting that Christian will arrange.

4.7 Security

Security incidences are now a daily event on the island.

Matemwe: the Director will write to Nick to suggest the following for his area:

Abdul, Simai and Nick should go and talk to the Shehahs of Matemwe and Pwani Mchangani together with the RPC to find out what is going on and what is known about the gangs operating in the area the presenters at the AGM Mint Master know Nick, so we would suggest that they are asked to quote for a rapid response unit in the area, paid for by all the hotels from Mnemba down to Kiwengwa Police Station, and linked to Kiwengwa police and Mkokotoni.

It should be approved by those in the meeting and there should be a small MM-HQ linked to the participating hotels with a vehicle and appropriately armed MM staff who can arrive within 5 minutes of a hot button being pressed.

Simai will follow up the idea of an open radio frequency between the police the hotels.

Quotes should be sought from all the 3 security presenters from the AGM to compare their servicesw and prices.

Christian will follow this up as well as holding a meeting with the regional representatives to get their views on what is needed.

There will also be a security area on the website set up so that there can be clearer internal communication between members on the subject.  Meantime the director will open an emergency security line as an interim solution to communication weaknesses of the website.

Dates for 2012 meeting will be announced next year.

1. AOB

The Chairman summarised the activities for the year and thanked the Exec for all their hard work.

There was no other business.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 1400.

Abdulsamad

CHAIRMAN

Annual General Meeting 2011

MINUTES

Date: Wednesday 7th December 2011

Venue: Zanzibar Beach Resort

Time: 1400hrs – 1730hrs

Present:

ZATI Executive Board

Chairman – Abdul Samad Saeed (Sunset Bungalows)

Deputy Chairman – Bobby McKenna (Akili)

Board Member – Nassor Ali (Mnarani Beach Cottages)

Board Member – Christian Chillcott (Scuba Do)

Board Member – Seif Miskry (Flame Tree Cottages)

Board Member – Tonino Garau (Mtoni Marine)

Honorary Board Member– Paolo Chiaro (Renco/La Gemma Dell’Est)

Honorary Board Member – Simai Mohammed Said (Mercury’s)

Honorary Board Member – Carl Salisbury (Zanair / Zantours)

Board Members Absent with Apologies

Board Member and Treasurer – Eleanor Griplas (Safari Blue)

Board Member and Executive Secretary – Maryam Olsen (Explore Zanzibar)

Board Member – Farhat Jah (Swahili Divers/Kervan Saray)

ZATI Director – Julia Bishop

Approximately 80 members of ZATI

Invited guests

Mr Ali Khalil – Executive Director of Zanzibar Tourism Board – representing Guest of Honour Mr Issa Ahmed who made his apologies.

Mr Ali Mwinyikai – Principle Secretary, Minister of Information, Culture, Tourism and Sports

Mr Issa Milingoti, Deputy Principal Secretary

Regional RPCs and CID Officers.

Members of the press

1       Welcome  from ZATI Director Julia Bishop

The meeting was opened by the ZATI Director Julia Bishop at 1415, who welcomed the Guest of Honour and invited guests, and thanked everyone for coming. She made a 10 minute presentation outlining the following topics:

1. Trends in Tourism Tanzania / Zanzibar
2. The ZATI Strategy
3. The AGM Agenda

Trends in Tourism:

The Tanzanian mainland reports the following statistics:

She reminded the attendees that Zanzibar commission for Toursim has the following mission and policy:

Mission: To become the top destination of the Indian Ocean region, offering high quality tourism products and services, increasing visitor’s experiences whilst ensuring long-term sustainability

Tourism Policy Objectives: To develop, plan, manage and promote a tourism industry that emphasizes sustainability, quality and diversification, and which is culturally responsible, socially desirable, ecologically friendly, environmentally sustainable and economically viable.

She said that tourism is a source of prosperity and pride for Zanzibar, because of the important role it plays in the economy:

• The Tourism sector is the largest income earner in the economy, contributing 27% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 80% of foreign exchange earnings
• Tourism provides more than 11,500 workers in direct employment, and an additional 45,000 people are engaged in indirect activities
• At present there are 5500 rooms providing over 11,000 beds which can accommodate approximately 145,000 visitors

Tourism has been on an upward trend for the last 25 years, with small downturns due to elections, wars and economic issues:

The last 2 years shows a gentle upturn after the dip in arrival numbers s as a result of the global economic downturn in 2008:

And she reminded those present that these figures should be inflated further to take into account approximately 25% of the arrivals from mainland Tanzania who come to Zanzibar after a safari but are not counted as they arrive as they have already passed through Tanzanian immigration.

The outlook for 2011 is strong as every month so far this year has exceeded the arrivals from any previous year so 2011 will most probably eventually report the highest tourism arrivals in Zanzibar’s history.

The nationalities are still dominated by Italian, but growing fast are UK, South Africa, Americas and regional arrivals from East African countries.

ZATI Strategy

The Director said that the strategic plan for ZATI has been updated this year to follow a plan for the next 3 years based on a three-point approach to serving its members:

i)             The action agenda for Advocacy is as follows:

1. Policing and Safety
2. Utilities Provision: Power, Water, Waste
3. Collection and Administration of Tourism Levies
4. Upgrading of Airport and Sea Port
5. Skills Development

ii)            Information for members will include the following:

1. Government Policy and Strategy
2. Legislation
3. Industry Standards
4. Responsible Tourism Tanzania – ww.rttz.org

iii)           Destination Marketing has included these activities and will develop further:

1. Strategy Written 2010
2. Working with TTB / TCT re Tanzania overall strategy
3. Brochures and promotional DVDs
4. Attendance at trade fairs, tourism conferences

The positive changes that can be effected though a well run tourism industry in Zanzibar would include the following:

ü  Safe and secure islands with strong defence and police/juduciary

ü  A clean, beautiful Stone Town – authentically rejuvenated, maintained

ü  Utilities – power and water produced, distributed effectively

ü  Human waste managed efficiently and environmentally sustainably

ü  Effective marine environmental regulation and preservation

ü  Education and healthcare supporting  a managed population of Zanzibar

ü  Sustainable management of fisheries, agriculture, forestry resources

ü  A balanced selection of responsible hotels, guest houses, and eco-lodges – and strict controls on over-development

ü  Interesting and professionally delivered  tours and excursions

ü  Quality promotion targeted at specific target markets

ü  Strong representation of citizens in managerial positions in tourism

ü  Effective tourism training / apprenticeship programmes for citizens

And finally, the vision for the islands that should be projected and achieved is that Zanzibar has an international reputation as a safe, amazing, beautiful, clean, well-managed, distinctive, magical island, as part of Tanzania, where people from near and far want to invest  and spend their money so they can work, rest, explore, learn, escape and play, and where the local people feel protected, nurtured, respected & developed, and their culture is honoured and preserved.

2       Welcome from the Chairman of the Association, Abdulsamad Saeed:

The ZATI chairman made the following speech:

Welcome to my first AGM as the Chairman of ZATI.  You, our members, are most welcome today – you form our Governing Council – you are ZATI.

A big thanks and warm welcome to you all. I have to announce that unfortunately our Guest of Honour today – Mr Issa Ahmed, the Chairman of the Zanzibar Commission for Tourism has been called to Pemba to attend the funeral of his brother.  Mr Issa is no stranger to Tourism – he has been heading up the Commission for many years.   ZATI enjoys a very close Public Sector partnership with the Commission, together with the Director Mr Ali Khalil, who today represents Mr Issa Ahmed, and we hope this will strengthen further.  I should mention that Mr Issa is now the also close advisor on tourism matters to His Excellency the President – this is the first time the President has had an official advisor on tourism and so I, on behalf of all ZATI, would like to congratulate Mr Issa in this new capacity.  We trust that he will be a great ambassador of ZATI!

Also – may I thank our other invited guests for coming today – The Principle Secretary to the State House Mr Salum, the PS ad deputy of the Ministry Tourism, Mr Jefferson Smith from the US Embassy, Dr Ifunya from TPSF, Ali Khalil Executive Director of the Commission, Directors of ZAWA, ZECO, ZNCCIA and ZATO. This year for the first time we are please d to announce that we have received sponsorship for our AGM – from the Peoples’ Bank of Zanzibar.  They have a most interesting turnaround story to tell you, and they have been a great support to the growth of the Zanzibar economy.  They now come to investors with some tailor-made financial offerings which we know you will be interested to hear about.  So thank to PBZ for your assistance in covering the costs of the AGM, and we are proud to have you on board.

So – It has been an interesting year since you all elected me this time last December.  By ‘interesting’ I mean – tough, challenging, hard work – but rewarding.

I am going to take a few minutes to tell you about the year 2011 and then will share with you our vision, going forward:

Firstly, I couldn’t talk about 2011 without mention of MV Spice Islander, the terrible disaster which shocked and saddened us all, and will be in our memories for ever.  I know many of you were very active in saving lives and providing assistance and survivor support through Saidia Zanzibar, thank you. Thanks to Bobby McKenna and many other volunteers from ZATI for Saidia Zanzibar which are in the final stages of distribution of cash, medical aid and clothing.  We will inform you of all details when the project is concluded.

On to happier matters -  we are experiencing a boom year for Zanzibar tourism, I am delighted to say.  According to the Tourism Commission figures for the first three quarters of the year, our overseas visitor arrivals numbers have increased by 27%, compared to 2010. Considering there is supposed to be an economic crisis in Europe, our major supply market, this is a fantastic result for Zanzibar – so well done all of you – you have all played a big part in this.

However, in spite of this positive growth, the challenges have also increased.  And this is where my year has been interesting!

Top of the list is the issues of security. We have been worried about the external threat of piracy from Somalia, as well as the internal threat of armed robberies and mugging.  ZATI has continuously stated that without good security we do not have a tourism industry, and without a tourism industry, our members as well as the economy of the isles will suffer badly.  So this is our number one issue, and it has been all along.

For the last 12 months, since piracy incidences have been on the increase in the Indian Ocean area, ZATI has been on the front line pushing for urgent attention.  This has included the appointment of our board member Chris Chillcott to focus on the anti-piracy issue.  Discussions with the British High Commission to raise our concerns about the subject lead to our meeting with the head of anti-piracy in the International Maritime Organization, IMO, the UK and US Military Attachés, and the UK Minister for Africa.  The UK Foreign Secretary met with President Kikwete, and Prince Charles was briefed. Carl Salisbury of behalf of ZATI held a meeting in the Zanair offices with all European and Canadian Tanzanian Foreign Mission Representatives following the incidences in Kenya.  ZATI Board members were present to underline the importance of protecting our shores. Everyone involved is taking the issue very seriously.

Our KMKM forces are now in Pemban waters assisting with inshore patrols, and The Royal Navy are working with NATO and European NAV FOR and are due to bring out a new frigate to join the anti piracy force in Tanzania.

Most of this has activity taken place behind the scenes so as not to cause any concerns, but be assured we have been very active on your behalves.

So : On to internal security – Poleni sana for those of you in this room who have been on the receiving end of violent crime.  ZATI has had numerous meetings with the Commissioner of Police, the Minister of State, and we have taken the subject to the Zanzibar Business Council, right onto the desk of the President himself.  Today we have with us, the heads of the Regional Police and Regional Crime Officers from all 3 areas of Unguja, as well as representatives from KK Security and G4 Security.  Please understand that we take this subject extremely seriously and so we will be devoting time to it today.

At the same Business council meeting, ZATI presented a paper on a wide range of advocacy subjects, including utilities, waste management, air and sea ports, taxes and levies, papasi and beach boy harassment, and the need for better skills development in tourism training.  It was a powerful action agenda on strengthening the tourism industry, a copy of which is in your packs.  This will form the basis of our ongoing advocacy work which is being supported by the Tanzanian Private Sector Forum.

To back up our lobbying – earlier this year ZATI also invited all the Heads of the House of Representatives committees to a forum at the Serena where we briefed them at length on tourism issues and pressed forward the importance of tourism and the challenges that we face as an industry, in order that they could better represent our needs at Parliamentary level.  We believe this resulted in the President officially acknowledging that tourism is the leading sector and should receive appropriate attention.

We have also been co-operating closely with the Commission for Tourism.  As well as working together to produce the 2010 visitors’ exit survey report  – you have a copy of it in your packs by the way – we have also done our bit for marketing Zanzibar as a destination.  We attended Indaba, Karibu and WTM and we have put a new brochure together – again, you have copies in your packs. We are pushing to get Zanzibar to be more strongly featured in the strategy of the Tanzanian Tourism Board and we want to form a strong committee of private sector representatives to make sure our marketing effort is done collectively, with quality, style and effective promotion of Zanzibar.

For 2012 – we will be pushing harder on the advocacy issues to help make the investment climate easier for you.  We will also be helping to promote Zanzibar well to make sure we keep the tourists coming in.  And we will be championing responsible tourism in the region.

So  – we are active, and we are increasingly being taken seriously.  I would like to make a plea to you, our Governing Council, to be more involved – in your regional ZATI branches in the North, Stone Town and the East coast s, in the specialist areas of conservation and security, and in helping to promote our beautiful islands.

So thanks to you all for all your input and efforts this year – and to my vice-chairman Bobby McKenna, our Director Julia Bishop and all the Executive Board for support and hard work.

Thanks too to the Embassies that have supported our efforts – the British High Commission in particular who is a great help to us when we need it.  Thanks to our public sector colleagues in Government who listen, who work with us, and who understand how important tourism is for Zanzibar.  We in the private sector work hard to make it happen, and we need their support in order to ensure its sustainability and growth.

Finally – to Simai, who I took over from last year. He has managed to keep very quiet this year (!) but has also been a great support and guidance to me – asante mwamba.

With that – I would like to introduce the representative of our Guest of Honour, Mr Issa Ahmed, who is Ali Khalil, Director of the Commission for Tourism.  Thank you for listening.

1. Guest of Honour Ali Khalil Mirza

The guest of Honour officially opened the meeting by thanking ZATI for inviting The Commission for Tourism to fulfil this role.

He related that ZATI’s formation dated back to 1998, when an informal group of investors had been trying to draw the Government’s attention to problems faced by the industry in Zanzibar.  In April 1999, these investors held a meeting with the Government, chaired by the former president.  The outcome of the meeting was somewhat unsuccessful and it took another 4 years for ZATI to receive Government attention in 2003.  The organisation was then born with 12 founding members, charged with helping the voice of the private sector to be heard by the public sector, in order to make the investment environment for tourism easier, and to successfully grow the industry in Zanzibar.

Today ZATI has 106 members and tourism arrival numbers have doubled since 2003 – with many new successful hotels, lodges and tour operations, so the partnership was formed those 14 years ago must be working.  However many of the major problems affecting the industry remain, and several have grown along with tourist numbers.  Hence the importance of ZATI as a private sector representative body is more significant than ever before.

ZATI’s position on the Zanzibar Business Council and the Tanzania Private Sector forum is a testament to its status in Zanzibar, and indeed the Government now involves the private sector in almost all its tourism-related deliberations. This is not unusual – in many countries the public and private sectors together for the tourism body driving product development and destination marketing, and it is widely acknowledged that this is the effective way of managing the industry.

The Commission for Tourism and ZATI have had a special relationship going back several years and this can be strengthened still. We have undertaken 3 visitor exit surveys together, we have worked on putting in place software to assist to input statistical arrival information and we join forces at trade fairs such as Indaba, WTM and Karibu.

ZATI strengths lie in its breadth and depth of operation, and its leadership and management.  It is the voice of Zanzibar’s largest foreign investment earner and members have a vested interest in the sustainability of Zanzibar’s environment.  Its constitution empowers the organisation to position itself to promote long term interests of tourism in Zanzibar, and the organisation is growing as the industry grows. Membership is taken from hotels, lodges and guest houses as well as tour operations, airlines and support services.  It includes many Zanzibari owned businesses along with foreign investors.  ZATI’s good relationship with the Government helps it be well placed to work effectively as a Public Private Partnership.

Future opportunities for ZATI could include playing a stronger role in destination marketing of Zanzibar, proving further member services in the form of information about the industry, partnering more closely with the Commission in order to assist it with its responsibilities, and in line with Government policy where eco-tourism is prioritised in Government Strategy for Tourism, ZATI can take the lead in Zanzibar in the new Responsible Tourism Tanzania initiative (RTT), leading to internationally recognised sustainability behaviour that will be acknowledged by tour operators and travel agents worldwide.

He concluded that the final figures for tourism arrivals could this year be a record for Zanzibar, and are expected to top 160,000 direct arrivals from overseas.

1. PBZ

The Peoples’ Bank of Zanzibar were the official sponsors of the ZATI AGM and were represented by Said Said.  He made a comprehensive presentation describing the growth of the bank in terms of its assets and deposits, its branch number and its vision for the future.  He described also a range of products for the investors such as same day account opening, 24 hour cash transfers, low interest rates, free bridging loans, regional ATMs and internet banking.

The Chairman thanked the bank for their sponsorship and recommended members to go into the branch and talk to them to get more details on products and services that could benefit them financially.

1. Members’ Open Forum

In a brainstorm to establish the areas for attention in 2011, the members raised the following points:

• North-east coast representation will be covered by Julian burton from Blue Bay.
• We need to know more about tourism income – how much does Zanzibar get, and what is done with this?
• Hotel levy v. VAT – is there an explanation as to why one or the other might be applied?

Theses issues will be taken up at the next Executive Board meeting.

The topic of conversation centred thereafter on the matter of security as there has been an increase in violent crime and hotel break-ins around the island.

Many members related their individual stories and a show of hands suggested that around 40% of members have been victims, and some more than once.

The issues are response time, lack of training, money, equipment and resources for the police, and the poor judiciary system.

During the conversation, the following suggestions were made:

• Communities should be closer involved with hotels
• Local MPs need to be involved in hotels to help them lobby on behalf of investors
• Radio communication between hotels needs to be introduced
• Better statistics on crime need to be recorded and published
• Better information sharing among the private sector should take place
• Stronger ZATI regional representation and communication on security is needed
• The government should be lobbied to provide finances and resources for the police
• JKU and KMKM should be deployed
• Voluntary policing exists which could be wider used
• Forodhani police post needs upgrading
• There should be an auxiliary police force for tourism

The 30 bicycles that were presented by ZATI to the police have not been used and are not in evidence.  In summary, there was a resounding vote of no confidence in the Zanzibar police force and a general conclusion that alternative measures should be taken.

1. Presentations by private security companies

There followed 3 short presentations by KK, G4S and Mint Master who each suggested that private firms are the best measure for hotels, and that hotels could even share rapid response units which could be strategically set up around the island.

Mr Makarani for the RPC South Region responded saying that investors should always prosecute and leave stolen goods in the hands of the police as evidence until the prosecution process is finalised.

The subject of security will be taken up at the Executive Board meeting and actions concluded thereafter.

1. AOB

Helicopter evacuation services are available from Dar es Salaam and there needs to be follow-up on the question of regional helipads – Bobby McKenna is following up.

Sustainability of the environment needs to feature prominanty on the ZATI action agenda – Julia Bishop to follow up.

The ZATI website should be better utilised as a way of members and executive members to communicate – Julia bishop / Christian chilllcott to follow u.

The new aiorport set up should be non corrupt – this should be insisted upon – Carl Salisbury to follow up.

A sub committee of tour operators should be formed within ZATI – and tour operators should be better represented on the board – Abdulsamad to follow up.

All hotels should participate in the beach clean up day on th 3dr Saturday in September – Julia bishop to follow up.

The situation of liquor licencing fees is still unresolved – Abdulsamad to follow up.

Transparency and clarity of what tourism investors have to pay should be imporoved to prevent further stealth taxes such as that imposed by ZIPA.  Simai to follow up.

7.   ZATI Dinner Party

The ZATI Dinner Party will take place at the Zanzibar Beach Resort in February and the date will be announced after the next Board meetng on the 15^th December.

8.    Closure of the meeting

At 1730 The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and participating in the meeting, formally called the AGM 2011 to a close, and welcomed everyone to stay for refreshments.

Abdulsamad Saeed

CHAIRMAN

ZATI Director Julia Bishop 9-12-11

Tanzanians are proudly celebrating 50 years of independence today.

After several decades, Tanganyika gained its independence from Britain to become The United Republic of Tanzania. Julius Nyerere, known as Baba wa Taifa (Father of the Nation), was influential in uniting much of the country by advocating for peaceful change, social equality and racial harmony. With the help of his efforts, Tanganyika became a republic on December 9, 1961.  In 1964, Zanzibar followed and the two nations unified to form the United Republic of Tanzania with Nyerere as its first president.

Thanks for all your support at the AGM!  We got some great feedback from members.

It was highlighted in the meeting that the website is under-utilised as a means of communicating between members and within the exec.  So this is to remind you how to use it.

There are 2 blogs set up – one for members (which you can also see and use, but non members can not see) and one for the exec (which neither members or general public can not see).

I want to check if the website is working properly.  You should all be able to get this message via your email inboxes, and be able to make comments on it.  Can I ask you all to do that please so we can check that it works?

The idea is that we use this method to discuss issues among ourselves  – and members do the same on their blog – as it is a more effective and efficient way of sharing information than by the email circulation list.

If this is not working as it should – Christian, I need help from Matt to look into it.

Thanks -

Julia.

The Zanzibar Association of Tourism Investors enjoyed a most successful Annual General Meeting at the Zanzibar Beach Resort on 7th December.

Over 100 attendees packed the conference room as the Director Julia Bishop welcomed everyone and updated on tourism statistics and strategy – outlining the ZATI three-point plan of Advocacy, Membership Support and Destination Marketing.

The Chairman Abdulsamad addressed the assembled group to say they are experiencing a boom year for Zanzibar tourism.  According to the Tourism Commission figures for the first three quarters of the year, our overseas visitor arrivals numbers have increased by 27%, compared to 2010. He congratulated the private sector for the part they have all played in this.  He went on the describe the many events and meetings with the public sector that have taken place during 2011 on behalf of the ZATI members, helping to strengthen the bsusiness environment for Zanzibar investors.

The Guest of Honour from the Commission for Tourism represented by Ali Khalil said that  ZATI’s strengths lie in its breadth and depth of operation, and its leadership and management.  He said It is the voice of Zanzibar’s largest foreign investment earner and members have a vested interest in the sustainability of Zanzibar’s environment.   He continued to say that ZATI’s good relationship with the Government helps it be well placed to work effectively as a Public-Private Partnership.  Future opportunities he highlighted for ZATI could include playing a stronger role in destination marketing of Zanzibar, proving further member services in the form of information about the industry, partnering more closely with the Commission in order to assist it with its responsibilities, and in line with Government policy where eco-tourism is prioritised in Government Strategy for Tourism, ZATI can take the lead in Zanzibar in the new Responsible Tourism Tanzania initiative (RTTZ), leading to internationally recognised sustainability behaviour that will be acknowledged by tour operators and travel agents worldwide.

The event was sponsored by PBZ – The Peoples bank of Zanzibar – who outlined their range of financial products and services tailor-made to assist investors with all their banking needs, and explained how they have assisted in the econimic development of Zanzibar in many ways over the years.

Three private security firms – KK, MintMaster and G4S all made presentations on how to increase security measures on the island.  The range of subjects further discussed included safety, marketing, statistics, tourism income, environment, lobbying and the strengthening of ZATI regional sub-committees around the island.

The Chairman thanked all the Governing Council and the invited guests and especially the Executive Board members for all their support during the previous year and said he looked forward to serving his second year at chair of ZATI in 2012.

The Zanzibar Beach Resort is the venue for the ZATI AGM this year.

We are delighted to acccept sponsorship for this event from PBZ – The Peoples’ Bank of Zanzibar.

The meeting is only open to ZATI members adn it starts 1400hrs.

ALL ZATI MEMBERS ARE INVITED.  Please send a representative if you are not able to make it as the main investor.

This is your chance as the Governing Council to have your say on behalf of the Tourism Sector.

See you promptly on the 7th!

Zanzibar focuses on tourism to boost its economy and job creation

World Travel Market will be visited by ZATI this year from the first time – Chairman Abdulsamad Said, Vice Chairman Bobby McKenna and Director Julia Bishop will all be attending the London travel show.

Staged annually in London, World Travel Market – the leading global event for the travel industry – is a vibrant must attend four-day business-to-business event presenting a diverse range of destinations and industry sectors to UK and International travel professionals. It is a unique opportunity for the whole global travel trade to meet, network, negotiate and conduct business. By attending World Travel Market, participants efficiently, effectively and productively gain immediate competitive advantage for their business and stay abreast with the latest developments in the travel industry.

ZATI will be on the Tanzania stand and will bring the new 2011-12 ZATI brochure hot off the press.

Zanzibar continues to be destination of choice for many overseas visitors , as the tropical paradise isles are enjoying their busiest year ever for tourism.

Recent figures released by the Commission for Toursim reflect reports from hotels that bookings are strong right to the end of this year.

Tourism in Zanzibar experienced a drop in 2008 which resulted from the global economic downturn, but has since gained strength year on year for three years.

If the final quarter of this year follows the same pattern, all indications suggest that 2011 is going to be a record year for visitor arrivals.

In 2010 the arrivals number was 132,836, and the previous record high was 2007 when there were a recorded 143,283 arrivals.

So far in 2011 we have received 125,777 visitors from January to September, a 27% increase over the same period in 2010, and we still have the busy Christmas high season ahead of us.

It must be noted that in addition to these direct overseas arrivals, Tanzania mainland Tourism Board reports that 30% of the visitors they receive on the mainland also come to Zanzibar to relax after their safari, so these number should be inflated to include domestic Tanzanian arrivals from Dar es Salaam or Arusha airports.

Every month so far in 2011 the arrivals have been higher than any other previous month. Hotels report good forward bookings for the end of the year and ZATI will report the final 2011 arrivals number early in 2012.

All figures are supplied by the Zanzibar Commission for Tourism.