Arusha – Tanzanian government has threatened to deregister tour operators running against rules and regulations governing the tourism industry in the East African nation.

Jumanne Maghembe, Tanzania’s Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, said yesterday that there are unscrupulous tour operators, who are behind conning tourists wishing to visit the country’s tourist destinations. The deceitful tour operators were denting the prospects and good fortunes offered by the tourism industry, according to Maghembe. "I had instructed the director of the tourism department, Deograsias Mdamu, to identify such operators and strike off those known to con unsuspecting tourists.

"We’ve been receiving a lot of such cases and as a government, we will not condone them...we can’t be at the mercy of such crooks,” cautioned the minister. He insisted that the government will continue taking swift and stern actions against rogue tour operators for the good of the sector. Tanzania earns $2 billion annually from the tourism industry. The sector contributes 17 per cent to the country’s GDP as well as offering thousands of direct and indirect job opportunities.

Xinhua