Women in Tanzania’s tourism industry have recently launched the Tanzania Association of Women Tour Operators (TAWTO), which aims to promote gender equality in the country’s US$2.6 billion industry, reports eTurboNews Tanzania.

“Tourism is [a] male-dominated industry, and we thought it was imperative to establish a women’s association to promote women’s empowerment and take proactive steps to mainstream gender in tourism policies, planning, and operations,” said TAWTO Chairperson, Elizabeth Mwakajila, during the organisation’s inauguration last week.

There are 40 founding members who are all female tour operators in the East African country, and Mwakajila said TAWTO’s membership included a diverse representation of women with different educational and social backgrounds who had fought extremely hard to excel in the male-dominated industry.

“We’ve unanimously decided to raise the voice of females in the tourism industry to complement the efforts of Tanzania’s pioneer female President, Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan, who was a key tour guide in the Royal Tour documentary,” she explained.

TAWTO will further focus on conservation, as well as encouraging women, especially young girls, to venture into the business by providing them with training on tourism and community development.

As such, TAWTO will offer business training and exposure opportunities to its members as it seeks to partner with its international peers in a bid to enable each other through training and exchange programmes. The organisation ultimately wants to create job opportunities for youth and women.

“The idea is to ensure tourism remains a leading foreign currency earner in the Tanzanian economy. Tourism should be promoted and developed in a sustainable manner and ought to benefit the local communities. We believe that when women prosper in business they will create employment opportunities for other women, become economically independent, be able to build a prosperous society,” Mwakajila concluded.

TAWTO has appointed advisers to the association such as Arusha Regional Commissioner, John Mongela, and the former Managing Director of the Tanzania Tourist Board, Devota Mdachi.

Officiating at the TAWTO launch, Natural Resources and Tourism Minister, Mohamed Mchengerwa, promised an open-door policy and said he would be willing to work with the association to support the tourism industry.

“We have come to encourage you. I believe our presence as a Ministry will be a catalyst to your performance in conservation and selling the many and unique tourist attractions the country is endowed with,” Mchengerwa said.

He has challenged TAWTO to attract members from across the country, especially from the southern tourist circuit, as a strategy to relieve the northern circuit of tourist traffic.

“Participation of women in the tourism value chain is high on the agenda. This is reflected in the country’s first female President taking part in leaving her office to promote tourist attractions,” the minister said.

The association is based in the county’s northern safari capital of Arusha.