Features

Tanzania travels

26 Jan 2011 by AndrewGough

Sometimes chaotic but always colourful, Dar es Salaam is a thriving place to do business, says Felicity Cousins

Crawling, battered buses, roaring four-by-fours and rocking trucks with people darting dangerously in front of cars – the morning rush hour in Dar es Salaam is a tumultuous kick-start to the day. Faded colonial buildings dot the seafront and the fish market glistens in the morning light with its fresh, slippery catch, creating an ageing seaside-town feel amidst the chaos.

But behind the façade, the city is growing up. Tanzania’s commercial capital is the third-fastest growing city in Africa, after Nigeria’s Lagos and Mali’s Bamako, and the ninth-fastest in the world.

Trevor Saldanha, hotel manager of the Kilimanjaro Kempinski, says: “The next two decades will be the years of the African countries. There are so many natural resources here and Tanzania is a democracy, a well-run democracy at that.”

The East African country, home to Africa’s tallest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, borders Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. Tanzania held elections in October last year and president Jakaya Kikwete was re-elected for his second five-year term. A couple of months later, during my visit, the newspaper headlines were full of hope – on December 6 The East African (theeastafrican.co.ke) reported on its front page that the Tanzanian economy would see 7.7 per cent growth by 2013.

One of the country’s main exports is tea – Unilever, the owner of brands such as PG Tips and Lyons Tea, is huge here – and Dar es Salaam port is a major gateway for copper exports from Zambia and Malawi. Tanzania is itself rich in natural resources – it is the third-largest producer of gold on the continent after South Africa and Ghana, and mining companies such as Anglo-American and Barrick Gold Corporation operate here.

Large telecoms companies including MIC (Millicom International Cellular) and Vodacom (part of Vodafone), as well as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Economist Intelligence Unit, are all well established. Meanwhile, the country is changing from an agriculture-reliant economy to one based on finance and the service industries.
Sanjiv Malhotra, Kempinski’s vice-president for East Africa, says: “You can see signs of Dar es Salaam changing and a new economic confidence, a political shift and more access to information and knowledge. People now look and talk differently. So it is changing in these ways and the physical change will follow.”

There certainly needs to be a change in infrastructure for the city to function at a higher level. The roads are often jammed – the evening rush hour seems to start at about 2pm and if there is a downpour you can be stationary for an hour, with water swilling around you and car horns ringing in your ears. The roads are having a slow makeover. Malhotra says: “The work has started and what has been done is good quality and will last a long time.”
The airport is another challenge for anyone arriving on business – facilities are basic, and if you have not arranged your visa in advance you’ll be in for a long, hot wait.

Thankfully, a third airport terminal, which has been talked about for years, is now coming to fruition. Malhotra says: “The new airport [terminal] is no longer a myth – it is happening and work will begin in March and be finished in 18-20 months.” It will be for international departures, while the existing Terminal 2 will become a domestic facility and Terminal 1 will be used for flights to Zanzibar.

British Airways flies direct to Dar es Salaam from London Heathrow three times a week, while Kenya Airways operates daily flights from Heathrow via its Nairobi hub (for reviews of the Kenya Airways business class offering on this route, click here). 

Such infrastructural changes are needed to support growing visitor numbers. While leisure travellers often use Dar only as a stopover for onward connections to Zanzibar or inland safaris, last year, Tanzania welcomed 43,000 conference delegates. In May, the city hosted the World Economic Forum on Africa – the first time it has been held outside South Africa, with delegates visiting from 85 countries. The event was hosted by the Mlimani City Conference Centre, the largest of its kind in the country.

The city also has the smaller Dar es Salaam International Conference Centre, which has a capacity for 350 people, and there are more venues in development, although details are yet to be revealed.

There is a relatively small number of international hotel brands in the city – Kempinski has been here for six years, Golden Tulip for ten, and Movenpick since 2005 (see panel below). More recent additions include a Holiday Inn and a Doubletree by Hilton, and African openings to come include another Southern Sun property, and 100 Protea Hotels serviced apartments in the city centre.

Malhotra says: “There is a new market for serviced apartments as flats are expensive, but there are not many hotels at the higher end. The Kilimanjaro Kempinski is our flagship property in Africa. Today we have eight hotels [on the continent] and in 2011 we will have three more – one in Arusha [in north Tanzania] and two in Zanzibar [see panel, facing page].”

The Kilimanjaro hotel is in the centre of the city with views of the port (for a review see businesstraveller.com/tried-and-tested). This part of town is home to many of the financial institutions, mining companies and telecom firms, but another growing business area is the Msasani Peninsula, further up the coast in Oyster Bay, about 20 minutes’ drive from the centre and an hour from the airport. With its large gated houses and wide quiet roads, it has a calmer, more ordered feel. Roald Dahl lived here when he worked for Shell in the 1930s, and today it is home to embassies and heads of state.

Rebecca McCreath, sales and marketing manager for Golden Tulip Dar es Salaam, says: “The peninsula is an affluent area where expats and senior people live – it has great bars, restaurants and shops.” (Note that shopping is generally limited to five-star hotels or tourist markets.) The Doubletree recently opened here and there are talks of a conference centre for up to 1,000 people to be built next to the Golden Tulip hotel.

So what is it like to do business in Dar es Salaam? Mehboob Champsi, director of East African public relations company Gina Din Corporate Communications, says: “The TIC [Tanzania Investment Centre] is a one-stop shop for anyone wanting to do business here and they make it really easy – they sort out visas, and what you need to do. It’s a positive place to do business and there are far fewer restrictions now. Infrastructure is the single largest challenge.”

Another challenge is time-keeping. McCreath says: “It’s a different way of doing business here. You will never, ever have a meeting on time in Dar. If you have an appointment then make sure you factor in more than one day as sometimes people are just not there.”

Peggy Sibbald, general manager of the Holiday Inn Dar es Salaam, agrees. “We always say, ‘Are you keeping Tanzanian time or European time?’ It is just the culture. Some people come and are shocked [at the way it works].”

Of course, if you know this then you can get into the groove, and there are a lot of positives. Sibbald says the people are friendly, the weather is good and she feels safe, while McCreath adds that the expat community is small so once you have met one person you are in a fantastic network of people.

With its new hotels, roads and conference centres, there is a good vibe here and a sense that things are happening. Kempinski’s Malhotra says: “The [infrastructural] spine is here and so is the work ethic – early in the morning workers are streaming into the city. People here are on the move.” Welcome to Tanzania.

 

Top tips

  • Even for a short visit to Dar es Salaam you should take malaria prevention tablets. Consult your doctor.

  • Negotiate your taxi fare before your driver pulls off – don’t pay more than Tsh 2,000 (90p) for a trip in the city centre. Journeys between the airport and the centre should not be more than Tsh 20,000 (£8.50).

  • The Frommer’s Kenya and Tanzania 2010 guide has a detailed section on Dar es Salaam and its restaurants and hotels. Visit frommers.com

 

City centre hotels

Movenpick

Movenpick arrived in Tanzania in 2005, taking over the Royal Palm hotel. A few blocks from the seafront and backing on to a golf course, it has 230 rooms, including an executive floor and lounge. It has two restaurants, a pool bar and coffee shop. The ballroom can cater for 450 theatre-style and there is a garden marquee for 600.

Holiday Inn

A year old, the Holiday Inn Dar es Salaam City Centre is on the apex of two roads close to the business district. The 124-room property has 11 floors, including a rooftop bar and sun deck. Executive rooms offer access to a lounge with free wired/wifi access and snacks. There are five meeting rooms and a bar with a covered outdoor terrace.

 

Oyster Bay hotels

Hilton by Doubletree

The Doubletree by Hilton Oyster Bay opened in 2009 on the Msasani Peninsula. Originally a complex of apartments, Hilton has redeveloped it into a welcoming and relaxed 150-room, four-star property with gardens, an outdoor pool and terraces, and a covered jetty stretching out into the water – great for special events. Rooms have large balconies and free internet access. There are meeting facilities for 200 people in total, two restaurants and a bar with a shisha tent.

  • Slipway Road; tel +255 222 210 000; doubletree.com
  • Rooms from US$190

Golden Tulip

Five minutes’ drive from the Doubletree is the ten-year-old Golden Tulip hotel, which is currently being refurbished floor by floor. It’s a large Arabic-style building with 84 rooms, all with sea views and balconies. There are four conference rooms – the largest can hold 500 people – and a marquee for 1,600 is planned. There are also plans to rebuild the bar and the gym. Renovations will be completed by the end of the year.

Hotel Sea Cliff

This 93-room property is well known among expats in the area for its Alcove restaurant (serving Indian and Chinese cuisine), cliff-top views of the ocean and peaceful shopping complex for jewellery and arts and crafts. There is also a pool, spa and four meeting spaces for up to 350 delegates in total.

 

Escape to Zanzibar

The Archipelago of Zanzibar includes Pemba Island and the larger island of Unguja, commonly known as Zanzibar. Unguja’s capital, Zanzibar City, is home to Stone Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and there is a strong mix of cultures as Zanzibar was once the centre for the spice trade in the 19th century. Stone Town has winding streets with intricately carved doorways and is alive with local people. There are several places to eat and stay, and new Doubletree and Kempinski hotels are on the cards.

The island is only about 100km long and 30km wide, and most visitors escape to the resorts on the white sand beaches – the Kempinski Zamani Retreat opened last month as a relaunch of the Zamani Zanzibar Kempinski. Aimed at high-end leisure travellers and meeting groups, it focuses on well-being and offers tailor-made packages. No alcohol, internet or mobile phones are allowed.

Kempinski’s Sanjiv Malhotra says: “The retreat is for the ‘eat, pray, love’ kind of people. So many cultures have been to Zanzibar that there are enough stories to fill a year of sitting around a campfire. It has history, beaches and food – in the next few years Zanzibar will really take off.”

You can fly to Zanzibar from Dar es Salaam in 20 minutes, while a boat takes about 2.5 hours – air conditioned business class seats are available, and you can often see dolphins jumping playfully in the wake of the boat. Note that you need a passport for boat entry but not if you are arriving by air from Tanzania.

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