TOURISM

What is tourism?

Tourism is the activity that involves visiting interesting places for pleasure.

People are moving away from their home to perform tourism.

A person that performs tourism is a tourist.

People perform tourism for the following reasons:

1) For holidays                        (2) For studies

       3)   For research purposes   (4) For business

TYPES OF TOURISM

The two types of tourism are:

(a) Domestic tourism 

(b) International Tourism

Domestic tourism is tourism in which people are traveling from one place to another within their own country. For example, traveling from Dar es salaam to Mikumi National Park.

International tourism is tourism in which people move from their country to other countries. For example traveling from Tanzania to see crying stones of kakamega in Kenya. Consider the map below:

Jumbe performed International Tourism because he crossed Country A to Country B.

Mariam performed Domestic tourism because she moved from one place to another within  country B.

TOURIST ATTRACTION AREAS IN EAST AFRICA

Tourist attractions are things that motivate people to travel.

The following are tourist attractions in East Africa.

1) Prehistoric and Historical sites

Prehistoric means the period before modern written records existed and Historic means after written records existed.

Prehistoric and historic sites are old settlements and buildings which are interesting to people: the table below shows the some of these historical sites:

2) National Parks and game reserves

Animals and birds that live and grow independently of people are known as  Wildlife

Wild animals are found in special areas called National Parks. Example of wild animals are, lion, hyena, elephant, hawk.

People enjoy seeing different types of animals and birds in National Parks and Game reserves.

People are not allowed to kill animals in National parks, but they are allowed with special permits to kill animals  in game reserves.

In addition, there are conservation areas like Ngorongoro Conservation area.

In Tanzania National parks are:

Serengeti, Mikumi, Tarangire, Katavi, lake Manyara,  Ruaha, Saadani, mahale,Gombe, Rubondo, Udzungwa and Ngorongoro .

Game reserves are Sellous, Ugalla, Rungwa, Biharamulo and Mkomazi.

In Kenya National Parks are, Tsavo, Amboseli, Nairobi, Mount Kenya, Meru, Aberdare, Malindi, Kiunga and Mombasa.

The Game reserves are, maasai mara, Kora, Marsabit, Losai and South Turkana.

In Uganda, The national Parks are, Queen Elizabeth, Kidepo valley, Rwenzori mountain, Mount Elgon, Lake Mburo, Murchison falls and Bwindi.

The Game Reserves are, Ajai, Bugungu, Karuma, Bokora, Katonga and Kigezi.

Most of National Parks and Game Reserves are located in Tropical grasslands. Economic activities carried out in these regions are animal keeping and wild honey harvesting.

3) Physical features

East Africa has amazing physical features which attract tourists. They include high mountains such as Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Mount Kenya in Kenya. These mountain have ice and snow on their tops which draws the attention of tourists.

Also lake Victoria which is the largest lake in Africa and source of river Nile attracts tourists.

4) Culture

Culture is the total way of life of particular society in a particular time. It is people’s way of life. The African culture of people in East Africa is rich in terms of dance, music, dress, food and traditional houses. Tourists enjoy seeing cultures which are different from their own.

5) Climate

The climate of East Africa attracts many tourists. They usually come from cold climate countries in order to enjoy East African Tropical Climate. When it is winter season (Very Cold Season) in Europe, it is hot and dry in east Africa.

Questions:

1. Mention tourist attraction areas  in East Africa and give two   examples for each.

2. What things motivate people to come to East Africa to perform tourism?

3. Mention three reasons that make people to perform tourism.

******End of Part One *******

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