The Tanzanian government plans to give more push to fashion as a tourism product with great potential. This will be a component of efforts to diversify the nation’s current abundance of wildlife-centric tourist attractions.“We want to see cultural tourism climbing higher. It can turn around our tourism,” said the deputy minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Mary Masanja.

When the Tourism Deputy Minister attended the Maasai Fashion Night at the Gran Melia Arusha, she noted the vibrant Maasai traditional fashion as something that ought to be conserved and promoted for both the benefit of future generations and tourists.

Ms. Masanja, who was dressed as a Maasai woman and joined in the traditional dance, was certain about the importance of promoting cultural tourism.“The government will fully support such initiatives. We should position cultural tourism as top of our priorities,” she explained.

The Maasai Festival, which will take place in Arusha in October of this year, is preceded by the Maasai Fashion Night, which drew large numbers of members of the ethnic community dressed in elaborate garb.

The Festival will be put on by Wonderland Travel, a Dar es Salaam-based company whose CEO and founder Saidi Rukemo stated: “Culture should complement wildlife in Tanzania’s tourism scene. Today is a day to honor Maasai attire. Any of our 120 tribes should represent us the following time.

He claimed that if they are not kept or passed down from one generation to the next, Tanzanian cultural artifacts such as music, clothing, and artifacts may be lost. An exhibition of decorated Maasai cultural artifacts, including headdresses, necklaces, earrings, and ankle bracelets, took center stage at the fashion show.

The vibrant event drew supporters of the cause from as far away as Houston, Texas in the United States of America (USA). Ms. Asia Idarus Khamsin, who owns a store in the US named “Mother of Fashion Tanzania,” did not try to hide how pleased she was by “the beauty of the Maasai.” “The Maasais are rich in culture. Let us stick to our culture. Many artists here are putting on nothing else but the colorful Maasai attire,” she told The Citizen.

The Zanzibar-born Ms. Khamsin dressed out in all the typical Maasai celebration decorations, including jewelry, necklaces, earrings, headbands, and other items. Given Tanzania’s vast collection of cultural artifacts, the 64-year-old fashion designer claimed that the fashion business holds significant economic potential for the nation.

For the past 15 years, she has spent her time in the US, Tanzania’s top source market for tourists, promoting the nation’s fashion designs. She has worked in the fashion industry for nearly 40 years in total.

The director of Maasai Fashion, Mr. Lekoko Lepilal, spoke at the well-attended event and pleaded with the tourism stakeholders to support cultural trends in addition to wildlife-based tourism. He pointed out that “Cultural tourism is not confined to fashion (traditional attire) but cuisine, songs, lyrics, and artifacts.”

According to him, Tanzania won’t reach its goal of five million tourists (per year) by 2025 unless it adds some fresh products to the state’s well-known tourist attractions, adding that the promotion of Tanzania as a top tourist destination in Africa would be sparked by fashion designs and other elements of cultural tourism.

Without introducing some new items alongside the well-known tourist sites, he claimed Tanzania will not reach its goal of five million tourists (per year) by 2025.

He pointed out that the promotion of Tanzania as a top tourist destination in Africa would be sparked by fashion designs and other aspects of cultural tourism. Mr. Lepilal asserts that the fashion sector has the ability to employ fashion designers and other individuals involved in its value chain.