120+ members from nearly 267 tour companies participated in the 40th AGM held at Gran Melia Hotel in Arusha.
Corporate social responsibility must be scaled up through TATO – is a key resolution reached.
Six new board members elected.
Collaboration with the government remains the beacon of tourism industry’s growth.

The 40th Annual General Meeting of the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO) was held on November 28, 2023, at Gran Melia Hotel, where members unanimously agreed to scale-up the corporate social responsibility, but through TATO.

The AGM presided by the TATO Chairman, Mr. Wilbard Chambulo, deliberated thoroughly on the importance of individual tour operators to intensify their community support through TATO, as part of the mission to show solidarity.

As part of commemorating TATO’s 40th anniversary, members agreed to have a gala dinner to be held on December 9, 2023, at Gran Melia Hotel, where nearly 350 people are expected to attend the get-together-gathering to celebrate four decades of impact.

They have committed themselves to contribute in cash to facilitate the gala dinner for it to happen. So far, individual TATO members have contributed Sh80 million for the event.

TATO members also underscored the importance of their association to bolster its working ties with the government of the day under the pro-tourism President, Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, and local and international partners for the tourism industry to grow.

Members also had an opportunity for electing six new board members to take the association to new heights in the next four years.

Mr. Wilbard Chambulo was overwhelmingly re-elected as TATO Chairman, while Vesna Glamocanin Tibaijuka maintained her position as a Board Member, heading the Reboot Tourism programme, Raju Modha was also re-elected as TATO Treasurer.

The AGM also brought the new board members to spearhead TATO objectives. The fresh elected members are Mr. Vinay Sapra, Mr. Allan Mollel and Mr. Patrick Salumu.

The meeting also acknowledged and thanked the outgoing Board Members Mr. John Corse, Mr. Timothy Mdinka and Mr. Emmanuel Wera for their service and contributions.

Earlier, the incumbent Chairman, Mr. Chambulo, informed members that the 25th World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly had approved the admission of the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO), which officially becomes member of the UN agency.

Mr. Chambulo led a high-profile delegation at the key UNWTO meeting held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in mid-October 2023.

Joining as affiliate member allows TATO to achieve local, regional, national and global visibility through the network and channels of UNWTO, he said.

The affiliate member is a fundamental tool in increasing competitiveness of the private sector actors in the tourism industry, reads a UNWTO document.

The UNWTO networks serve as a venue for active collaboration where UNWTO member states and affiliate members can interact, share and access relevant information.

Furthermore, TATO would benefit from the platform by generating, disseminating and applying specialised knowledge in order to take advantage of the great potential for addressing pressing tourism-related issues of common interest such as skills transfer and access to cutting-edge technologies from a variety of sectors.

TATO is also a member of the Association for the Promotion of Tourism to Africa (APTA), one of the leading trade organisations in North America, specialising in promoting tourism to Africa.

As if that was not enough, the Association has also been a member of African Travel and Tourism Association (ATTA), a member-driven trade association that promotes better tourism for Africa from all corners of the world.

As a partner to each member, the role of ATTA is to connect businesses and individuals within the trade to facilitate knowledge sharing, best practice, trading and networking across the industry.

For more image about the event please click here

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