With a three day visit in Chome last week, the first phase of assessing the potential of eco-cultural tourism has been concluded for KIHO. We learned many things during our visits to a traditional healer, a Maasai boma, Gonja village, Tona Lodge in Mbaga, the tourist offices in Lushoto in the Usambara mountains as well as Chome with Shengena Forest. It was very interesting to see the successes but also the challenges that other places that have tourism established to some degree face with their visitors. We hope to start soon with this project that will help the local communities to generate additional income.
Sunset from the Flat Rock in Chome In comparison to the most established tourism spot in this area, Lushoto, where a lot of guesthouses and lodges are already established, in the Southern Pare mountains the accommodation will be mostly based on home stays or as alternatively camp sites can be offered. The training of tour guides will be a major challenge because while the local people all speak Kiswahili and Kipare, the level of English is often not so good. It is not really an option though to bring in tour guides from other parts of Tanzania, because they would not know the Pare culture nor do they speak Kipare.
Most likely KIHO wants to set up a company that will benefit community projects as well as the further development of KIHO, thus it is again the rural communities in Same District that will benefit from eco-cultural tourism. One difficult thing will what this entity will do during the low season as we realize that established tourist places have a very hard time to get tourists during half of the year – or even more than that! It will be important to attract visitors throughout the year with an interesting program.
Ecological tourism means for us that we want to have a “light footprint” when our future tourists will come to Same and then go to the different villages. The environmental impact should be as minimal as possible although certain things like transport can hardly be avoided. KIHO will certainly promote in all villages tree planting as well as watershed management that will help to enrich and protect the bio-diversity but also increase the output of farmers thanks to less soil erosion and a better use of the water that is available.
KIHO understands cultural tourism as the promotion and the protection of the Pare culture, but also the Maasai culture in the lowlands of Same District. The sharing of life at home or on the farm, traditional dancers, traditional healers and story-telling can be a very valuable exchange of the local people with our visitors and it is an incentive for the rural communities to remember their heritage instead of giving it up.
In combination, eco-cultural tourism should be the chance for the local communities in the Southern Pare mountains to have additional income-generating opportunities through offering home stays for the visitors, perform dances, offer handicraft work or be tour guides during part of the year. Please, keep in touch with us with any ideas. And we count on you that you will help us to promote such kind of tourism in the Southern Pare mountains that will ultimately benefit our people and help them to get out of poverty.
Most likely KIHO wants to set up a company that will benefit community projects as well as the further development of KIHO, thus it is again the rural communities in Same District that will benefit from eco-cultural tourism. One difficult thing will what this entity will do during the low season as we realize that established tourist places have a very hard time to get tourists during half of the year – or even more than that! It will be important to attract visitors throughout the year with an interesting program.
Ecological tourism means for us that we want to have a “light footprint” when our future tourists will come to Same and then go to the different villages. The environmental impact should be as minimal as possible although certain things like transport can hardly be avoided. KIHO will certainly promote in all villages tree planting as well as watershed management that will help to enrich and protect the bio-diversity but also increase the output of farmers thanks to less soil erosion and a better use of the water that is available.
KIHO understands cultural tourism as the promotion and the protection of the Pare culture, but also the Maasai culture in the lowlands of Same District. The sharing of life at home or on the farm, traditional dancers, traditional healers and story-telling can be a very valuable exchange of the local people with our visitors and it is an incentive for the rural communities to remember their heritage instead of giving it up.
In combination, eco-cultural tourism should be the chance for the local communities in the Southern Pare mountains to have additional income-generating opportunities through offering home stays for the visitors, perform dances, offer handicraft work or be tour guides during part of the year. Please, keep in touch with us with any ideas. And we count on you that you will help us to promote such kind of tourism in the Southern Pare mountains that will ultimately benefit our people and help them to get out of poverty.
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