Tanzania: Tourism Firm in Serengeti Goes for Youth Education

Having dedicated and qualified staff offering hospitality and tour guide services is paramount for the development of tourism sector in western Serengeti and elsewhere in Tanzania.

The tourism sector in western Serengeti has of late registered significant progress that needs competent workers, according to serious investors operating in the area. It's the only place with the highest number of classic tourist and tented camps in Mara Region.

The facilities belong to serious investors targeting thousands of tourists flocking into the Serengeti ecosystem to view wildlife.

Singita Grumeti Reserves (SGR), an exclusive tourism company, has already started supporting young men and women pursue tourism courses in a bid to enhance hospitality services in western Serengeti.

SGR operates several luxurious lodges and tented camps that have been set up by US billionaire Paul Tudor Jones in Western Serengeti. The American has invested heavily in tourism and conservation sectors in Tanzania after falling in love with the Serengeti ecosystem.

Mr Jason Trollip, the Tourism Executive at SGR, says training of local youths in hospitality is one of the company's top priorities in its operations. "We have seven lodges and tented camps and my role is to keep the high standard of SGR lodges but there is no way I can do without trained and dedicated staff," Mr Trollip says.

SGR lodges have won global awards after the Travel and the Leisure Magazine of the United States of America named them the best from a list of 100 top hotels in the world in 2011 and 2012. The lodges are flagship Singita Sasakwa Lodge, Singita Sabora Tented Camp, Singita Farufaru Lodge, Singita Serengeti House, Singita Mara River Tented camp and Singita Explore, Simba and Maji.

The awards scooped by SGR lodges helped to make Tanzanian hospitality services shine globally as the local lodges were widely featured by the international media like CNN. SGR says it has in the recent years been offering scholarships to students interested with the hospitality industry.

"Since 2010 SGR has spent 47m/- to sponsor 28 students, according to a recent report. Sixteen of the beneficiary students are from various villages located near the company's area of operation in Serengeti and 12 from neighbouring Bunda District.

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By Mugini Jacob, 15 November 2013 Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)