Press release, Miss Star on Tanzania Great Safari Tour

April 12, 2005



Tanzania's efforts to attract more foreign investment into its growing tourism sector have caught the ears of Miss Star Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kenneth Chung. He has accepted an invitation from the Tanzanian Government to explore the African country's readiness to host an international pageant this year to promote its touristic sites and monuments.

Mr. Chung will lead a 25-member delegation of Miss Star Advisory and Select Committee officials, marketing executives, economic development strategist and contestants and media from Germany, United Kingdom, Malaysia, South Africa, Russia, United States and the Caribbean.

The tour has been dubbed "The Great Safari Tour." It will be the CEO's first visit to the East African country and part of his organisation's Africa Approach Policy Agenda, which targets the promotion of the tourism industry across Africa in the course of 10 years through creative tactics.

"I am honoured to be invited as a guest of the Government of Tanzania. Tourism advancement in Africa is a key role of the Miss Star Board. African states are now realising that the new foreigner currency earner is tourism. European countries have already capitalised on tourism by investing in infrastructure, service and international marketing. Africa, more specifically Tanzania's tourism sector cannot survive without creative and unique marketing strategies.

This is where the Miss Star pageant comes in," Mr. Chung said. The excursion will include visits to Tanzania's major touristic sites, including Serengeti National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, Ngorongoro Crater, and the Great Lakes of Victoria, Nyasa and Tanganyika.

Talks between the London-based organisation and the Government of Tanzania will cover such areas as standard of accommodation and hospitality, accessibility, transport, and security, Government's commitment to tourism and the readiness of the Tourist Board to embark and commit resources to creative and `out of the box' promotional strategies.

"If Tanzania is chosen as the host country, we are talking about bringing 100 members of the international media, marketing executives, pageantry advisers and 150 contestants from around the world, who will then go on to become ambassadors of Tanzania's tourist sector. But before any deal can be signed, we have to ensure that all these areas, such as, service and security are covered.

This is the purpose of the fact-finding trip," the CEO said. He added: "Tanzania is blessed with incredible wildlife, unique Arab and African cultural blend, tradition and spectacular scenery - all crucial ingredients to create a booming tourism industry -- but many tourists don't know this. They all think Mount Kilimanjaro and the famous Masai tribe can only be found in Kenya. Tanzania has to reclaim these tourism magnets."

Mr. Chung said he believes that Tanzania's tourism sector has the potential to be the top foreign revenue earner for the country, monies which can be put towards eradicating poverty, the nation's educational programmes, better health-care, especially for persons living with HIV/AIDS and developing the tourism infrastructure and service. "Tanzania has the potential to increase its tourist figures from main source markets such as the United Kingdom, Asia, Europe, and United States, and even gain new grounds in the Caribbean and Latin and South America by capturing travelers' attention.



The Miss Star Advisory and Select Committee's acceptance to visit Tanzania was based on its unvarnished passion, focused enthusiasm and unwavering commitment to tourism promotion in Tanzania and across Africa, in line with Miss Star 's Africa Approach Policy Agenda, which targets the promotion of the tourism industry across Africa in the course of 10 years.

The Strategic Business and Media Planner for Miss Star Mr. Michael Orji said that "the successful growth and development of Africa's economies lie in the shrewd implementation of a sustained promotion of a strategic tourism master plan within the framework of an Africa Approach Policy Agenda", adding that, "an integrated Africa tourism promotion is the genuine platform for a truly strategic approach to the development of the continent's tourism industry".

The pre-conditions for the successful and effective utilizations of the Miss Star pageant as a tourism promotional tool for Tanzania are by no means major challenges to realise. These include:

An active government committed to developing the country's tourism resources.

A Tourist Board ready to embark upon and commit resources to creative and 'out of the box' marketing and promotional strategies.

A visionary and efficient organising committee that has a sound plan and adequate resources to combine state-of-the-art pageantry with innovative tourism marketing approaches.

· The creative and sustained engagement of Miss Star contestants as tourism ambassadors of Tanzania and the adoption of a media strategy and promotional strategy applied in three phases.

Aims and Objectives
1. To showcase and promote the majestic and magnificent tourists destinations in Tanzania and stimulate growth and development in the country's tourism Industry.
2. Analyse Tanzania's tourism and its impact on economic growth and the efforts at the formulation and implementation of sound policy strategy to enhance foreign capital inflows as a direct result of tourism appeal.
3. Promote the investment opportunities available in Tanzania today, and highlight the positive steps taken by the government of President Benjamin Mpaka's government through policy directives and guidelines to attract foreign direct investment inflows into the tourism sector.
4. Evaluate the measures that Tanzania has adopted to promote trade and investment in the country through the institutionalization of enabling framework and conducive fiscal and monetary policies to attract both portfolio investments and foreign direct investments - fdi.
5. Partner with key tourism sector stakeholders to develop a sustainable strategy that would significantly spur tourism growth through a broad-based, value-adding developmental agenda.
6. Promote the major tourist destinations in Tanzania using pageantry as the fulcrum, the plank to attract enhanced footfall and trigger a widening social contract.

Thank you for your continued support. Amanda WILSON Media Associate Miss Star.