How about this one, folks? Mervyn1420Lobo -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written by Admin Business Times, Tanzania Friday, 18 March 2011 Dar es Salaam goes great guns for medical tourism dividend MAKUMBA MWEMEZI THE ministry of Natural Resources & Tourism is now convinced that the near-miraculous healing of chronic diseases going on at Samunge Village in the Loliondo District of Arusha Region is enough of a tourist attraction to warrant the setting up of strategic plans to develop formal tourism activities in the area. This comes after thousands of people from within Tanzania and beyond its porous borders continue to make a pilgrimage by foot, cycle, car, bus, lorry and even helicopter to the abode of one Ambilikile Mwaisapile for a herbal potion that reportedly 'cures' diseases like diabetes, AIDS as well as forms of cancer and heart conditions which have defied the most modern treatment facilities elsewhere! If medical tourism is the rapidly-growing practice of travelling across international borders to obtain health care, then Samunge-Loliondo already fits the bill. For the past three weeks, the Samunge Village has turned out to be a Mecca for seekers of a miracle cure personally administered by a retired parish pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT), Rev. Ambilikile Mwaisapile. In that regard, a principal ministry official told Business Times in an exclusive interview in Dar es Salaam this week that the Government had already convened a meeting of major tour operators with a view to putting in place the requisite travel logistics for people wanting to visit Samunge Village. This includes arranging appropriate flight reservations and accommodations for what the Government already sees as medical tourists. “We will start by advertising the healing at the international markets through the Tanzania Tourist Board's website and other media,” said Ibrahim Musa, director of tourism at the ministry. However, Musa was not willing, able or ready to specify the income generated by medical tourism in Tanzania, only saying that “this is a great opportunity for the country to tap.” Medical tourism – also known as medical travel, health tourism or global health-care – is a relatively new phenomenon, although more than 50 countries worldwide have identified medical tourism as a national industry. Services typically sought by medical tourists include elective procedures, as well as complex specialized surgeries such as joint replacement (knee/hip), cardiac surgery, dental surgery, and cosmetic surgeries. However, virtually every type of health care – including psychiatry, alternative treatments, convalescent care and even burial services – are available. Musa says medical tourism is quite common in other countries such as India and China, where millions of different peoples from across the world attend medical treatment of one sort or another. For Tanzania, this is one of the potential areas that need to be developed, he said, obviously with Samunge-Loliondo at the back of his mind! “The daily average expenditure for each person attending the healing (at 'Babu Mwaisapile's) is Tsh280,000 (about US$187)... This is a relatively huge expenditure,” Musa points out. It is estimated that a person seeking the treatment spends up to four days in queues to, and within, the village, a situation which provided income- generating opportunities for providers of products (food, water, etc) and services (transport). All in all, this is a great time for Samunge villagers in particular, and others in the surrounding parts in general, to benefit financially through supplying goods and services to the thousands of 'medical tourists' flocking into the area for treatment. Reports say the numbers of international arrivals seeking treatment at Samunge Village were on the increase, thus further creating income opportunities for traders in Arusha Region as a whole – mainly transporters and hospitality service providers. The ministry official further said the promotion of medical tourism – including the new-found Samunge Village phenomenon – would help to increase the number of both domestic and foreign tourists, thereby boosting the national and personal/household incomes. The minister for Natural Resources & Tourism, Ezekiel Maige, said earlier this week that the Government is making a close follow-up over the healing with a view to revamping its environment – with the cooperation of the pastor – so that the phenomenon has more of tourism characteristics. There are so far no negative effects in respect of the miracle healing. But the massive in- and outflow of people seeking treatment is phenomenal in an area utterly devoid other tourist attractions for miles. In the event, the ministry seeks to raise the profile of this backwater aspect to 'miracle healing tourism.' “Loliondo is about 70km from the Serengeti National Park, and 40km from Ngorongoro Crater,” the minister says. “People have travelled from more than 1,000km for healing, so it won’t bother them spending some moments in our attraction sites after they have been treated. It is not about the cure; that’s something else, it is about all those people flocking to that place,” he said. A Ministry Task Force has been commissioned to come up with a plan on how the miraculous healing pilgrimage could be placed alongside the ministry’s strategies to develop tourism in the area. The Task Force commenced work last Saturday, and it is having discussions with the Arusha regional authorities to arrange the possibility of patients seeing the pastor on a booking basis. “You see, we want all visitors to obtain booking before they arrive at the place, which would cut down on the overflow of people – and also give room to make arrangements for visitors to take out some time and view our attractions while awaiting for their turn,” the minister explained. The ministry is liaising with tourism agencies like TANAPA, TTB and the Secretariat for Tourism, whose members are part of the Task Force, to improve some strategic areas for facilitating tourism like roads, lodgings, transportation fees and services, as well as bringing to the fore the general hospitality of people around the area toward visitors. “As a ministry for Tourism, we are only concerned with the fact that people are flocking there, and it is our responsibility to use that opportunity to advertise the place and push up the tourism dividend via the miracle healing event,” he stated. Loliondo is characteristic of a situation where the human mind has been overwhelmed by unsolvable issues for long time, and now the place is attracting thousands of visitors from every corner of the country and outside the country to seek a cure for chronic diseases. If that opportunity is well-exploited the country will not only benefit from the cure, but also generate income from tourism. “We don’t want some other country to think in future that we lost this opportunity. It is a gift from God; so we are making positive use of it,” the minister added. The tourism sector employs about 220,000 people nationwide, contributes 17.2 per cent of the GDP and about 25 per cent of export earnings. The country reportedly attracts a minimum of 800,000 foreign tourists annually – and 600,000 domestic tourists. The tourism authorities forecast the country will host one million tourist arrivals this year, and generate about US$1.7 billion – if all the laid-out strategies to attract tourists succeed as planned. This is a rise from 2009 when the country earned $1.2 billion from 714,367 foreign visitors. Mountain climbing (especially The Kilimanjaro), national parks and game reserves, as well as ocean beaches tourism, are among the top tourists attractions in Tanzania. At 'normal rates,' a foreign tourist visiting Tanzania spends about US$1,500, according to the ministry.
