TigerPhotog

Has anyone seen this ? Heard from a friend in the tourism industry in Tanzania. TANAPA has sent letters to TATO members asking them to collect "concession fee" starting Aug 1st 2011. TATO is revolting against it....due to the impracticality.

http://www.tanzaniaparks.com/

Read the notice at the top.

This is causing problems with bookings for future trips since TANAPA is expecting tour operators (TATO members) to collect the concession fees from the hotels or clients like you and me instead of TANAPA and the hotel owners deal with this (as planned before).

This might certainly affect price of bookings made way in advance due to changing rate structures, maybe your tour operator will increase your quoted price since he is going to suffer the brunt of collecting this new "concession fee" after Aug 1st unless TANAPA reverts their decision.

Any thoughts or update on this ?

TP

andybiggs

I am not sure what the actual change in policy is, as the announcement isn't clear on much. As far as pricing goes, when one considers the overall cost of safari these days a few extra dollars might not make a material difference. It might if one is stretching a very very tight budget, and might need to stay out on safari for a long time, but 10-16 year old travelers is a small demographic for those types of safaris.

Is the news a price hike, or just how the logistics go with regards to collection?

tanya_1976

This is what I have found out so far but without any 100% authenticity:

The concession fees were paid as a percentage of revenue so far under the directive of the Ministry of Tourism and this was leading to a lot of loss for TANAPA as hotels were understating their revenues.

Hence the new directive to collect fees directly from visitors/TO at park gates.

However how this would impact existing booking is a bit unclear. Presumably the hotel/camp/lodge charges already price in a concession fees that they are supposed to pay to TANAPA. So if now I as a tourist have to pay this at the park gates, it should technically first be covered by the amount I have paid in my pppn charges.

Does anyone know what percentage of revenue was paid earlier as concession fees? I think the percentage figure is more important than the actual amount so one can use the same percentage on one's lodge rates to determine what's already priced in?

Going forward for new bookings, if the above is correct, should one expect the lodges/hotels to reduce their pppn charges to the extent that the concession fees is not being paid by them?

Also, can someone throw some light on if this regulation is only for permanent hotels/lodges or even camps like Sayari (permanent), Olakira (seasonal). The reason I ask this is as these camps already pay a camping fees of USD 50 or USD 100 pppn to TANAPA because they are booking special or premium sites? Were they also paying concession fees in addition to the per person per night camping charges?

TigerPhotog

Andy, afaik. this applies to everyone, not just 10-16 year olds, it changes the tour operator's pricing structure for clients. The concession fee was pre-calculated in the tour operator's consolidated rack rates pppn by the hoteliers...but not now (after aug 1, if TANAPA gets to do what it wants to do). Now the tour operators are confused as to where they should get the concession fee from.

Tanya1976 does have a point, the pppn rates for the tour operators from the hotels should actually go down due to the deduction of the concession fees and now the onus is on the operator to recover this cost from somewhere.

Basically, currently, I am stuck in trying to get the operator to sign off on my earlier priced itinerary , this could happen to others too.

TigerPhotog

For trips booked way in advance for travel after Aug 1st 2011... after this mandate by TANAPA, the hotels won't have to pay the concession fee to TANAPA (I assume they get to pocket this cash that was paid to them in advance). Now,the operator has to shell it out of his pocket....so, guess where will he recover this difference from ?

tanya_1976

I havent found anything very recent but all the newsletter from TANAPA in 2009 talk about a 10% concession fees paid by hotels/lodges (10% of the half board rate). So I would assume that 10% you have already paid and recoup it from the TO before you pay more.

From reports in Mar 2011 on this change the range is likely to be between USD 30 to USD 50 but again nothing latest.

It looks like this is applicable only for hotels and lodges and not camps but would love to get some confirmation one way or another.

TigerPhotog

From whai I have heard, TANAPA is seeing the uptick in incoming tourists(no recession), and want a bigger pie now.They are asking for more concession fees from the hoteliers and since they have refused to pay, tanapa has now directly emailed the tour operators in TATO to pay for this difference. How much pppd does that come to can be anyone's guess currently.If the tour operator has to pay for this after aug 1st, then it' going to come out of pockets of people like me. Reading older tanapa mandates from 2009 where the new concession rates ranged from 30 to 100 usd pppn, it could be a lot depending on # of people x number of nights. And that was applicable to all properties, lodge or camp......inside the park boundary.

TigerPhotog

Piece of the pie..I meant.

atravelynn

Freudian slip, TigerPhoto? A bigger pie, meaning more protected areas would be optimal, I agree.

Thanks for the info.

sandi

I only learned of this yesterday, so beat me who pays and what amount. The outfitters were in negotiation with TANAPA and TATO, when the government pulled the rug out from under them. Believe me the outfitters are not at all happy.

Many outfitters work on very small margins to pay out of their pockets; budget travelers sure don't have the extra cash to pay what's due when they're counting every penny; and even those who have the funds will not be at all pleased and for certain will be b*tching about this.

Who the heck puts thru an increase of any kind in the middle of peak-season, when safaris have been paid for months in advance, and <b>without prior notice?</b> Five (5) days doesn't cut it.

When Kenya issued notice of park and fuel surcharge increases effective 1st July, not large numbers at all, at least the information was provided 2-3/months prior so tour operators and clients would be properly advised.

I can assure you there are lots of outfitters in Arusha and tour operators worldwide who aren't sleeping well.

Ain't no way to run a government, let alone their tourism sector! Goodness, did I say that with the mess going on here in the States!

TigerPhotog

Sandi> Who the heck puts thru an increase of any kind in the middle of peak-season, when safaris have been paid for months in advance, and without prior notice? Five (5) days doesn't cut it.


Exactly !! My operator feels so bad currently about all this, he's very transparent to me cos I was in the last stages to finalize my upcoming trip! TZ government is getting greedy at the wrong time putting everybody at an inconvenience. If people like us pull out of their country in huge numbers, they might realize the mistake...but I can't, I have already committed the trip to my clients. I might end up paying that extra fee because I was unable to get my operator to commit to the price (invoice).... We shall see what happens on Aug 1st (the deadline).

tanya_1976

Are we sure its an "increase"? It looks more like the existing concession fees responsibility has moved from the lodges camps to tour operators/tourists. Maybe there is some increase as well but Point iv on the notice is an important message from TANAPA on this:

"(iv) Tour Operators, Tourists and visitors will have their own arrangements for set offs with Hotels, Lodges and Tented Camps"

So if from 1st August the camps/lodges are going to stop paying this concession fees, there should be some ground for them reimbursing the current bookings. Its not water tight by a long shot but worth exploring maybe.

Would somebody be able to give an example of what the fees are for different accomodation facilities? The new one as well as what they were supposed to pay TANAPA earlier? The USD 30 to 100 sited was not finally implemented in the past?

Given the structure of the fees, the more expensive lodging options are going to get priced out of the market even more now unless they don't compensate the tourists by lowering their rates.

(PS : The fees structure is reminding me of surgeon's charges in India -maybe elsewhere too- For a patient staying in a general ward or a simple room the surgeon charges less fees than a patient staying in an ac room with a LCD and WIFI!!!!)

TigerPhotog

Yes, it is an increase, was mentioned to TATO about 4-5 days ago...TANAPA wants more than what was previously negotiated with the lodges/camps (which is a certain % of the revenue). I have the fees/accommodation pricing for latest agreed upon rates, but now more than this is expected by Tanapa...

Eg: Kirawira lux camp (capacity - 50) ---> $100
Kusini camp (capacity- 40)---> $50
Serena Lodge (capacity -144) --> $50
Bilila Lodge (capacity 150) --> $100

tanya_1976

Thanks a lot TigerPhotog!

Seems the 30,50,100 USD concession fee structure depending on what the accomodations are and an increase on these from 1st August!

All the best, I hope you can resolve this atleast somewhat. I have a month to go and will share more once hear from Bill who is in Botswana now so don't want to push any panic buttons with atleast a month left.

sandi

TP - are those fees "per person/per nt" or "per person/per stay (2, 3, 4 days)?"

This is not pretty... lots of road kill with this fiasco!

TigerPhotog

Sandi, PPPN.

sandi

WOW! Lot and lots and lots of road kill!

TigerPhotog

Come Aug 1st, many future travelers to TZ should expect emails or phone calls from their operators asking to pay for this extra money. "Booking Terms And Conditions" usually have them covered for such a scenario.

sandi

TP - Yes they do for "statutory increases" but goodness, not last minute. Some travelers are already in Kenya, soon to be in Tanzania, or due in Tanzania in a week or two... only to be welcomed by "surprise!

Highway banditry - held up for more money or no safari!

... and no one know amounts and for which properties.

Sorry, but don't quite work!

TigerPhotog

Here is the entire list (some of the more prominent places):

Seronera wildlife Lodge (bed capacity 150) --> $40
Lobo Wildlife Lodge (bed capacity 150) --> $30
Sopa Lodge (bed capacity 160) --> $50
Serena Lodge (bed capacity 144) --> $50
Serena Kirawira Lux Camp ( bed capacity 50) --> $100
Elewana Migration Camp (bed capacity 42) --> $50
Grumeti Lux PT Camp (bed capacity 40) -->$50
Kusini Camp ( bed capacity 40) -->$50
Mbalageti Camp (bed capacity 50) -->$35
Mbuzi Mawe Tented Camp (bed capacity 30) --> $50
Bilila Lodge (bed capacity 150) -->$100
Sayari Camp ( bed capacity 30) -->$30
Serengeti Baloon Safaris (pppt) -->$50
Nyamuma Tented Camp (bed capacity 30) -->$30

Lake Manyara Tree Lodge (bed capacity 20) -->$50
Maweninga Tented Camp (bed capacity 24)-->$50
Tarangire Safari Lodge (bed capacity 85) -->$30
Tarangire Sopa Lodge (bed capacity 150) -->$40
Swala Camp (bed capacity 40) -->$30
Oliver's Camp (bed capacity 12) -->$30
Baloon base camp (pppt) -->$50
Momella Wildlife Lodge (bed capacity 115) -->$30
Oldonyo Orok Lodge (bed capacity 16) -->$30
Mwagusi Safari Camp (bed capacity 24) -->$40
Mdonya Old River Camp (bed capacity 24) -->$30
Jongomero Tented Camp (bed capacity 24) -->$50
Ruaha River Lodge (bed capacity 100) --> $30
Chada Tented Camp (bed capacity 12) -->$40
Fox Trek Camp (bed capacity 12) --> $30
Katuma Tented Camp (bed capacity 12) -->$30