3 tricks in choosing a safari company in Tanzania

  Visiting Arusha Tanzania for a safari? Dont stress out..

 Go through online reviews first, with millions of tourists reviewing safari companies daily it’s not a surprise that it is the number one way to get information before choosing a tour company. Your fellow tourists will be real without sugar coating which is very important to know before you open up your wallet. Read multiple reviews to make sure they are unbiased, then visit the company’s website to get a feel of the company, make sure it fits what you want as far as price and dates.F.Y.I (You get what you pay for).

Use your base accommodation/hotels/lodges/bnb's.Another very popular way of planning and choosing a tour company without the headache.Because of the already set connections accommodations are able to hook you up with reputable companies and better rates than you can otherwise get for yourself, they have a reputation to maintain so they will do anything in their power to get you the best at your price. So make sure to explore this option.

     

Family and friends can be one of the best sources before you make that choice. With the power of social media through facebook , twitter, LinkedIn etc, you can just post to your connections and ask them if they have any recommendations ,the outcome might surprise  you, either your friends or their friends might get you inside information obtained only from experienced first hand traveler,so before spending thousands of dollars check out this option.

 Brought to you by Tumaini Cottage Arusha,dedicated in providing quality accommodation,execellent customer services,delicious food and inside information to tourist/tour companies, travel agencies about the hospitality business in Arusha city and Tanzania in general.For more information visit us at www.tumainicottage.com or call us at 255-785-588-698..for United States call 317-987-1066 and 210-268-4166

4 Main Tourist Complaints about Arusha Accommodations

Arusha City, Tanzania  is becoming the tourist hub of east Africa, serving hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. Because of this tourist boom hundreds of hotel accommodations, lodges, B&B's and restaurants are popping up daily to serve this growing population of adventuresome foreigners.  All this expansion by entrepreneurial locals have led to some interesting difficulties when dealing and interacting with these diverse cultures.And here are the top four main complaints.

1. Language barriers are the first and foremost complaint among tourists that have visited Arusha City, Tanzania.  Yes tourists know that English is not the national language of the land but with Arusha City's worldwide reputation as the capital safari hub of Tanzania, tourists expect locals to speak enough English in hotels, lodges and B&B's to communicate effectively with their guests.

2. Unreliable and high internet prices.  Most travelers, especially first timers, expect to be able to communicate with their home countries using their portable devices.  These folks are happy to pay a little extra for this luxury but find it almost impossible because of  to hefty add-on fees or impractical due to the possibility of paying for the service and not being able to use it at all.

3. Power outages are a frequent occurence in under developed countries and as such is another huge problem for those folks caught unaware.  First of all most tourists understand that they are visiting Africa and so they are prepared for the unknown, it's part of the adventure.  The power plants and infrastructure  dated technology lives alot of room for improvement.  Random blackouts are a common occurance, and even though these problems are not the fault of the business owner and entirely out of their control, quality accommodations should at least have a backup generator to combat the problem.

4. Excessive credit card charges at stores,accommodations and restaurants in Tanzania WILL lead to steep and unexpected fees that wreak havoc on your account.  A majority of tourists come from cultures where carrying $500 in their pocket is essentially unheard of and are in the habit of swiping their credit cards for every purchase.It's a problem that most third world countries are trying to combat and businesses can only do so much to which to their credit are giving it their all.Some accommodation have chosen not to take credit cards to avoid costing their clients those hefty fees and will take you an atm for less charges.


So take a deep breath,relax and do your research,ask questions before booking your accommodation just remember you always get what you pay for, and sometimes paying more does not guarantee the best but also cheap can be very expensive.

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Your Arusha choice accommodation visit us at www.tumainicottage.com or call us at 011-255-784-588-698 or for United States call 317-987-1066 and 210-268-4166. Welcome to Arusha Tanzania "Hakuna Matata" . Join us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tumainicottage Also Like us on our facebook page http://facebook.com/tumainicottage

Who is really cashing in on Arusha Tanzania tourism?

 

     The answer may surprise you; most people think Tanzanians are becoming overnight multi-millionaires because of the tourism sector which in the past few years has quadruple. Yes there are more tour companies in Arusha city  alone than in many cities combined, yes the tourism sector is the number one employer in Arusha, and yes safari companies, hotels, bnb’s, lodges, Inns  are popin up faster than you can keep up. But the little secret shared by many of the veterans owners of these tour companies, and establishments is, most of the time they  just make enough to pay their overhead, add a car or two a year and just a bit left over for profit which in turn has to be saved for the next travel season.

    So the million dollar question is who really cashing in? The answer may surprise many but it’s just facts, western travel agents, online travel companies, brokers and just a small percentage of Tanzanians who have deep contacts all over the world are the true winners."Sometime keeping profits for  up to 45% then bargaining with small safari companies and accommodations to do the rest" as one tour company operator advised me. It's  job well done by mom and pops safari companies and accommodations doing all they can to make the best out of the Tanzania tourism by training their staff , investing and advertising Tanzania to the world with the little cash they have, but with shady contracts, problematic infrastructure, high taxes, low government support and the global competition which has been fueled by the internet revolution, achieving the multi-millionaire status just engaging in tourism, is a blinking light seen at the end of  a far away tunnel.

Brought to you by Tumaini Cottage Arusha tourist choice accommodation.Supporting responsible tourism in Africa. For all your Arusha accommodation and conference facility needs visit us at www.tumainicottage.com or call us today at 784-588-698 .Join us on facebook at http://facebook.com/tumainicottage or follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/tumainicottage

Foodie Revolution in Arusha city Tanzania?

Who would have thought that you can have a filet mignon ,Asparagas prosciutto Brushetta  with a Tanzanian red  wine or a chimichanga with a margarita all within Arusha city limits?Well it’s no secret Arusha “The capital tourism  city” of Tanzania has seen it’s rise for the last 20 years,with more hotels, tour companies,Ngo’s , hundreds of people from every corner of the world trying to ride the success of this little city.But the wave in the last 5 years is like no other,if you just drive around Arusha town you will notice a robust of new restaurants serving anything from the traditional popular Nyama choma joints,to Italian pizza’s joints,burger joints and even Mexican cuisine.Tourists can now eat their own country’s cuisine during their safari  in Arusha,with an African twist.More Tanzanians are getting exposed to the international cuisines and learning how to prepare them at home,it’s so exciting for food lovers that some may even call it a foodie revolution in the works. This little city still got it’s problems with infrastructure, power outages, water shortage,  but as all the new restaurant owners will tell you, there’s hope.

Brought to you by Tumaini Cottage  Arusha tourist choice accommodation.travel,learn,volunteer and enjoy Tanzania E.Africa. For all your accommodation and conference needs follow our link or call us at 011-255-784-588-698 or for United States call 317-987-1066 and 210-268-4166

Ontop of your game in Africa hotel business?

      The 2012 safari season started out slow, but it has finally picked up. There’s still more work to be done, more marketing, more infrastructures to build, more tour agents to bargain with, and more government regulations to follow but at least bills are paid on time and there's hope for a better future.

    Working together to create the best tourism in the country doesn't come without its ups and downs, talking to hoteliers, tour agents and investment owners I have the advantage of obtaining inside information that few have and I’m grateful to share. Looking at the numbers, the headaches, the high interest investment loans it gives you the feeling that the dream of owning and operating hotels, lodges, bnb's,Inns is not always what it's cracked up to be, or is it? .Tourists and traveler agents are now able to research your accommodation and services  with a click of a button and in a few seconds all the images, the amenities, the services and the reputation of the accommodation is displayed for free, Heart attack yet?. This can be dynamite for smart hoteliers’ and their accommodations but it can also be a disaster if you are not on top of your game. This raises the question, what it means being “Ontop of your game in African hospitality business?" Is it having the best location, the most expensive and unique services, the most advanced elevators, TV’s and communication systems that most customers don’t either have the time or electricity is not available for them to use or the daily freebies or wait what freebies?. With more accommodations thriving and depending on tourists coming from overseas, it's sometimes hard to answer that question, just copying and pasting what other accommodations in the world are doing, works only for certain things but not specifically for Africa, taking under consideration the water supply problems, daily power outages, expensive internet access, expensive diary products. We need a better way to express our high end hospitality services the African way, showing our culture through food, art, and quality concierge services, while being innovative and competitive in this multi million dollar market in the heart of Africa.

I encourage anyone who has the finance, knowledge and interested in the hospitality business in Arusha town to jump on the band wagon, build your dream accommodation and create your own unique services, but please do your research first, know the trends and most of all hire the best people to make your business a success, Arusha city has so much to offer it just needs people that will believe in it and those who have, are rewarded with the fruits of their hard work.

Brought to you by www.tumainicottage.com Arusha tourist choice accommodation. Travel,learn,volunteer and enjoy Arusha Tanzania in E.Africa.Contact 011-255-784-588698 and011-255- 715-588698 or info@tumainicottage.com For United States Arusha accommodation contact  317-987-1066  and  210-268-4166

Is Arusha Tanzania 2012 tourism season a disaster?

     Arusha city known around the world as the capital safari hub of Tanzania,some even say for the whole of E.Africa,is on a nervous  breakdown this tourism season, perhaps more nervous than it has been in at least a decade. Arusha city has enjoyed a steady increase in tourism due to marketing efforts by the entrepreneurs who took upon themselves to establish an infrastructure to accommodate tourism far beyond Tanzania's wildest dreams.The work of establishing reliable tour companies,training guides,exposing Tanzania's beauty,improving mt Kilimanjaro and safari experiences,improving quality in hospitality and extensive marketing across the world is what got this industry booming to where it's at today with estimated almost a million tourists visited Tanzania last year.
     Then came 2012,the global financial crisis is putting a dent on the economy of this little tourist city.With thousands of tour companies local and abroad scrambling for clients,accommodation/hotels/bnb's/special lodgings trying to compete in this tough market with millions of Tsh high interest loans on stake and high operating cost,one can only hope things will change in the next week or two or it might be a disaster to most businesses which depend highly on tourism.It's almost mid July and August is supposed to be busier but most decision makers are almost ready to throw the white flag and surrender,they are exhausted,deep in debt, frustrated and the only thing keeping them going is the hope that things might change and  hoping it does sooner than next month.
Time will tell,but as always we welcome you to our country,our city and our culture.Tanzania tourism will prevail,and this too shall pass.Wishing all the hoteliers/tour operators the best  on these trying times.

Brought to you by Tumaini Cottage Arusha tourist choice accommodation.for all your accommodation and conference needs visit us at www.tumainicottage.com or call us at 784-588-698 and 715-588-698 or for United States call 317-987-1066 and 210-268-4166

Arusha travel vacation article 2012

The 2012 tourism season for Tanzania is about to start,what is new? What is the inside scoop in tourism ? What are the new trends? What are tourist agents saying? .

What is new?
To start this article i would like to first welcome everyone to Arusha Tanzania aka "Tourist hub of E.Africa".Now that we got that of the way,Bravo!!!! to our city along the northern circuit for everything that has been going on to get the world talking about us,the month of June started with Afdb meeting and Karibu fair coming soon on 06/08/12 bringing thousands of people to our city.Tanzania still unknown by many tourists in the world is suddenly a dream come true for Africa ,with Serengeti getting the fame it deserves named among the world wonders,the Kilimanjaro trekking number almost tripling in revenue, the only direction the city revenue is going is exponentially high.

What is the inside scoop in tourism ?
The inside scoop is Arusha city has been seeing a growth of quality hotels,lodges,bnb's,Inns being built at a faster rate than never before, with hoteliers bringing up their "A game" in hospitality,style and excellent customer service while trying to maintain running cost and competing with each and every other accommodation in the region.A good competition indeed because tourist can now pick and chose what is best for them at an affordable rate and not just stuck at an accommodation they are not appreciated.

What are the new trends?
The new trends in Arusha  accommodation are amazing even unbelievable for Africa ,these include free WI-FI,massage spa's,pools,wine selection options,airport pickup (with a surcharge) and new cuisines to accommodate everyone's budget,with rates starting at $15 to $350 a night (Tourist beware you get what you pay for, make sure you review accommodations on travel sites,online pictures,friends because some places advertise themselves as hotels but are guest houses***A bed  and a shared bathroom and no breakfast option).

What are tourist agents saying?
Talking to various Ota's and traveler agents from around the world it seems good fortune is coming to Tanzania,with one agent in the United States saying to have seen a 25% increase request for Tanzania safari in 2011 we can only sit back relax and enjoy 2012,may the best accommodation win.

Brought to you by www.tumainicottage.com Arusha tourist accommodation of choice call us at 784-588-698 and 715-588-698 or for United States call 317-987-1066 and 210-268-4166