Tanzanian government considers to install cable car on mount Kilimanjaro

News24xx.com - Tanzania wants to increase the number of tourist arrivals by planning to install a cable car on Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. This project is in talks with companies from China and the West. About 50 thousand tourists climb Kilimanjaro every year. One cable car that has access to the mountain for those who cannot climb it can increase the number of tourists by up to 50 percent, said Constantine Kanyasu, Deputy Minister of Tourism.

The country is conducting a feasibility study on a route that allows it to be installed with the cable car, Kanyasu said, as quoted by Reuters on, May 10th 2019. "We are still conducting a feasibility study to see if this project can be successful" he said. "There are two companies, one from China and the other from the West that show interest on this project"

"This is not the first project in the world, because previously the cable car had been installed in Sweden, Italy, and even the Himalayas" he said. Kanyasu said the government was looking at business plans, potential investors and the benefits that would be generated from the cable car project.

Porters and guide groups that brought tourists to the mountains opposed this project, because they were worried that cable cars would reduce the number of climbers. Loishiye Mollel, head of the Porter Tanzania Porters Organization, said climbers usually take a week to reach the top of the mountain.

"One group of climbers from the United States has a maximum of 15 people. Almost half of them are porters, cooks, and guides. All the professions will be affected by the existence of a cable car" he said.

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