Terrorism and tourism in the hotel industry in Tanzania: a case of northern regions

Abstract

The northern regions of Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Manyara have an incredible number of tourists' attractions and therefore an increasing number of hotels to host guests. This paper examines preparedness of a terrorist attack by the hotel industry with the northern regions as the case study. Over the years, terrorists have bowed to hotels as one of their major target. An in-depth interview with five interviewees having over 15 years of experience revealed that all the tourist hotels that are members of Hotels Association of Tanzania (HAT) have some preparations by having fire extinguishers, CCTV cameras installation, security guard personnel, employees training, and use of metal detectors. Tourist hotels studied are from three star level as posited by the interviewees since most Tanzania hotels are un-graded. Through observation, some non-members of HAT lack those minimal security measures observed in HAT members. Moreover, high turnover of employees requires ongoing training on security.