Benjamin Taghavi-Awal
My life, all travels, the people I’ve met, all the education and professional experience I’ve obtained have prepared me for Fair Travel Tanzania. The idea came to me when I was travelling looking for a safari company myself in Tanzania. I was stunned by the safari prices considering the average income of the population and level of poverty. I was hurt to see that most of the profits from tourism don’t benefits the locals. I was furious to find out that the staff receives nothing but minimum wage or less and that I, as a customer, was made responsible to determine their salary with tips. I was determined to do something about this unfairness. I was curious to learn everything there is about Tanzanian tourist destinations. I was surprised how easy it was to set up a quality tour company, if you could only afford the investment. I was inspired to change the rules of the game. I was lucky to meet William Sekajingo and have him as a trusted partner.
William Sekajingo
It is open that Tanzania has got lots of natural resources, and attractions that could make a lot of changes in economy if well utilized. But since I was a child it has been great challenge to see that many capitalists come over to utilize the resources, pay very little to Tanzanian’s and take all the wealth outside Tanzania! Due to this I had an idea of opening a tour company when I was in college, and in the last semester of my college education, I started to work on the plan.
I was able to create a website, market it, and after few months I got some customers! My capital was a bit small, and the growth was real small. To support myself I worked at one of the most prestigious tour operators in Tanzania holding a highly responsible position as procurement manager! Late 2009, I met with Ben and after long discussions we just thought that we had the same ideas, and the same feeling about Tanzanian’s society, and the misuse of their natural resource which doesn’t benefit us Tanzanians as it is supposed to be. That´s how it all started…
…and now we invite you to be part of our story!
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