The Tanzania Vice President, Ms Samia Suluhu Hassan on 3rd October 2017 inaugurated a state-of-the-art museum at the Olduvai Gorge in Ngorongoro - Arusha.
Speaking during the
ceremony, Ms Hassan said she was optimistic that the Museum would help increase
the number of tourists and researchers visiting the Country.
“Olduvai Gorge is where
the history of a human being can be traced, so I think with this modern museum
a lot of tourists will flock to this area,” said the Vice President.
She also thanked the
European Union for funding the construction of the museum.
Ms Hassan directed the
ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism to ensure that the museum is
advertised across the world.
For his part, the
minster for Natural Resources and Tourism, Prof Jumanne Maghembe reiterated
that his ministry and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) will continue to
protect the area.
The new, ultra-modern
museum is part of deliberate measures taken and aimed at promoting the
acclaimed archaeological sites, which are among the major tourists’ attractions
in the world.
The facility has been
constructed close to the old museum, which is too small to accommodate hundreds
of visitors who flock to the site during the peak season of tourism.
Olduvai is another
iconic site in the human origin studies, being where the 1.7 million year old
skull of Australopithecus boisei, the ‘modern man’ was found in 1959.
Both sites were
discovered by the Leakey family - Dr. Mary and Louis Leakey, transforming the
remote landscapes west of the Ngorongoro highlands into world’s famous areas of
early man evolution studies and tourism. The two sites and other areas deemed
to be of archaeological importance within Ngorongoro were placed under the NCAA
a few years ago from the Antiquities Department for effective management and
tourism promotion.
Speaking to reporters
at Ngorongoro last month, the Chief Conservator, Freddy Manongi said the
historical and hominid sites were now becoming important areas for revenue
collection due to the rising number of visitors.
At least some Sh1.9
billion was generated at Olduvai alone by June this year. It is projected that
the authority would earn a whopping Sh.15 billion in the next five years from
the site.
Dr Manongi believes
increased visits to Olduvai and Laetoli may have been boosted by improvement of
the road network and vigorous marketing of other sites within the NCAA other
than the famous crater.
According to him, the
NCAA earned Sh 102 billion during the 2016/17 financial year, up from about Sh 70
billion generated in the previous fiscal year.