Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) has registered huge revenue this financial year resulting from the use of the electronic payment system where clients have to pay using the rechargeable smart cards rather than bringing in cash. Mr. Shaddy Kyambile, the Acting Chief Conservationist of NCAA said while addressing a press conference that was held in Dar es Salaam last Saturday that since May 2011 when NCAA begun, they have not had cases where money gets lost before it reaches the accounting offices thus the reason why they have managed to get a large amount of money this year.
Before the introduction of this system, tour operators could conspire with officers from NCAA at the gates who would help them go without paying some fees and this would reduce on the amount received in the offices. Mr. Kyambile said that the Conservation Area Authority has got Ngorongoro Crater and it is the most tourists attraction visited in Tanzania with about 500,000 tourists a year which means that NCAA receives almost 75% of the total number of tourists who go to Tanzania in a year which makes it Tanzania’s most sensitive attraction therefore demands that its tourists are handled with respect and strictness considering the amount of income that they bring in.
Last financial year, NCAA collected over 47bn/- from 37.2bn/- collected in 2010 and this improvement is attributed to the use of smart card based electronic payment system and yet they have just started using them which means that the future will be brighter and more income will be received if they continue using the cards. The only challenge faced now is the fact that there a number of tour operators and their drivers (guides) who are not yet to be used to smart cards but will soon get used.
The crater now receives 588,606 in 2011 from the 178,443 visitors they used to get and in the first three months of 2012, they go 146,142 visitors toured the crater so said Adam Akyoo, NCAA Communications manager which is a big achievement for the industry that needs to be protected and improved.
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