Chapter 1519 Meeting
In the early 20th century, the tourism audience was still mainly high-income groups. In the 1840s, the first professional travel agency appeared in the UK. At that time, Britain was the first to complete the Industrial Revolution, the economy grew rapidly, and people had more disposable income and leisure time.
Secondly, the development of the transportation industry has greatly reduced travel costs and made mass tourism possible, such as the emergence of trains and ships.
After the mid-19th century, the tourism industry in the United States developed rapidly, which corresponded to the rapid development of the United States at that time. At the same time, transoceanic travel was relatively prosperous during this period, such as the Titanic incident. The great development of the American tourism industry continued until the outbreak of the economic crisis in 1929.
The tourism industry in East Africa has just entered its infancy. Before 1910, few East African civilians had the concept of travel, and related industries almost did not exist.
In the 1920s, due to changes in social thinking, industrial and economic development, as well as the large amount of social wealth that East Africa had absorbed during the First World War, East Africa's tourism industry officially took off.
In this context, the East African government has also included tourism development in its Seventh Five-Year Plan, especially in the northern region of East Africa, which is a key area for tourism industry development.
At this time, Arusha City Government.
A meeting on regional tourism development was held. Representatives from Prussia, Eastern Province, Great Lakes Province, Maritime Province and Plateau Province participated in the meeting. Arusha Mayor Galenta chaired the meeting.
“Everyone, I am very happy that you have gathered in Arusha to attend this meeting. The focus of this meeting is to discuss the issue of ‘Tourism Planning in the Northern Plateau’ and integrate the tourism resources of the relevant towns and cities in our five provinces to create an internationally renowned tourist destination.”
The northern part of the plateau refers to the area in the northern part of the East African Plateau. This area has unique natural conditions and a high concentration of landscapes and protected areas.
Galenta said: "From the islands in the east, to the coastal beaches, to the coastal plains, to the inland plateaus, forests, grasslands, deserts, mountains, rivers, canyons, and finally lakes, the northern part of the plateau can be said to be a gathering place of rich natural landscapes."
"The modern and technological Mombasa Island, the exotic ancient city of Zanzibar, the quiet and natural Pemba Island, the Dar es Salaam urban agglomeration where many cities gather, the East African Canal, the Little Rhine River, the plateau city of Dodoma, which is famous for its railways, the Serengeti grasslands, the Kilimanjaro Snow Mountain, the Mount Kenya covered with tea plantations, the world's second largest freshwater lake, the Great Lakes, and the Great Rift Valley of East Africa..."
After an inventory by Mayor Galenta, it can be found that this region has sufficient resources for the tourism industry, and many of these places have a high international reputation.
The Great Rift Valley of East Africa, the Great Lake (Lake Victoria), and Mount Kilimanjaro are basically frequent visitors in geography textbooks. They are not only widely known in East Africa, but also appear frequently around the world.
In fact, the Serengeti grassland was also a world-famous place in the past. For example, the great migration of African grassland animals in many documentaries were mostly filmed here.
However, in the early 20th century, the Serengeti was not well-known internationally because related nature documentaries were relatively rare. Even movies were not popular in the world, so the great migration of animals in the Serengeti was not widely spread.
Only by visualizing this natural wonder of the vigorous development of all things can the people of other regions be amazed.
Galenta said: "We have so many scenic resources, but we are just sitting there without realizing it. This is a huge waste of our advantages."
The director of the Prussian Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism asked, “Mayor Galenta, what are your thoughts and suggestions?”
The East African Culture and Tourism Bureau is a newly established government agency in recent years. Before that, neither culture nor tourism was given much attention in East Africa. In terms of culture, East Africa has only a few decades of history, and for a long time, East Africa’s dark history as a slave country did not allow East Africa to vigorously promote its own culture.
Moreover, before World War I, East Africa's diplomacy and cultural propaganda tended to be conservative, and the society was relatively closed, not to mention the tourism industry. In the past, East Africa was closed to the outside world, and even the movement of its own people required procedures, and it was not very friendly to foreign tourists.
Therefore, before the 20th century, East Africa was a rather mysterious country to the outside world.
Because of the special national conditions, Mayor Galenta said: "What we should do most now is to increase the visibility of the region in the international community, such as in newspapers, books, radio, film and television, and introduce the many natural landscapes in the northern part of the plateau to the world and attract foreign tourists."
"I want to emphasize the film and television industry. Cinemas are becoming more and more popular around the world, and television is also beginning to appear on a large scale, which means that the film and television industry has a bright future."
“We in East Africa are one of the countries with the most developed film and television industry in the world, and Mombasa and Dar es Salaam are also at the forefront in this field in the empire.”
"This is our advantage. For example, Kitwe, a newly emerging film and television city, was not well-known in East Africa before, but it has become very popular in recent years, and many filming locations have attracted many tourists."
"So, if we can make good use of film and television as a promotional channel to introduce Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar, the Great Lakes, the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, etc. to the world, why should we be worried about not being able to attract tourists?"
“Therefore, I suggest that Mombasa and Dar es Salaam cooperate to focus on beautifying and promoting the human geography of our region, and then spread it to the world through film and television.”
"We have abundant natural landscapes, including deserts, grasslands, forests, volcanoes, snow-capped mountains, etc. These are all excellent filming locations. In addition, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam have developed film and television industries. Do you think my idea is feasible?"
After hearing his words, not to mention others, the personnel of the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa were very excited. On the one hand, it could improve the performance of their own departments, and on the other hand, it could promote the development of the film and television industry in the two cities.
Naturally, they would not oppose such a good thing, but would strongly support it.
Aoun, a representative of the Mombasa City Culture and Tourism Bureau, said: "Mayor Galenta's idea is very good. We in Mombasa support it. The film and television industry will definitely be an important industry in the future. Even India has developed the film and television industry. We naturally cannot ignore the huge role of the film and television industry in our various cultural and tourism departments, as well as the city's reputation and the empire's external cultural propaganda."
Why did Aoun mention India? This is because India's development in the film and television industry is relatively prominent in the world. Although it cannot compare with countries such as East Africa, the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom, it is also ranked in the second tier in the world, and is at the same level as Japan and some European countries.
In 1931, the film and television industry, like today's international political landscape, was diverse and flourishing.
The film and television industries of various countries are basically evenly matched, that is, East Africa and the United States are larger in scale, but the strength of Germany and France should not be underestimated, they are more artistic and their content is more avant-garde.
The history of development of India's film and television industry is no later than that of other countries. India had already introduced movies at the end of the last century, and the first imported movie was screened in Mumbai, India in 1896.
In 1913, India shot its first local mythological film. After that, Indian films emerged in large numbers and were quite influential in the silent film era.
This makes India the country with the most developed film and television industry in the Indian Ocean coastal area outside of East Africa.
When it comes to filming, India does have natural advantages. For example, India has rich mythology and religious themes, a profound historical heritage, and Indians are good at singing and dancing.
In contrast, in East Africa, many themes in the film and television fields rely on "borrowing", looking for various stories and materials in books from Europe and the Far East Empire.
Of course, in the field of science fiction films, East Africa, like the United States, is relatively good at it. This may be a common feature of countries that lack historical heritage.
All in all, India's film and television industry is quite strong, and can even compete with East Africa in the Middle East and Southeast Asian markets. Although they rely on Britain for technology and equipment, the film and television industry pays more attention to content and performance forms. India's strength in these two aspects should not be underestimated.
Representative Aoun said: "The expansion of the film and television market is a trend we are taking advantage of to assist our own department and the promotion of East African culture."
"So, when I return, I will focus on reflecting Mayor Galenta's proposal to the director and other departments."
After Aoun finished speaking, representatives from other cities or provincial capitals also expressed their opinions. The representative from Dar es Salaam was the most active. After all, he did not want to see Dar es Salaam fall behind its rival Mombasa.
Mayor Galenta was delighted. No matter what, as long as the regional visibility could be improved, Arusha, the node city, would ultimately benefit.
Because Arusha is an important transportation hub for several provinces, whether you are visiting Mount Kilimanjaro nearby or going to other areas around Arusha, it is the best transit station that cannot be avoided, providing logistical and supply support.
For example, if a film and television company team from Mombasa wants to go to the Serengeti to shoot, the equipment, supplies, guides, and even security they need can all be provided by Arusha.
In fact, Mayor Galenta had the idea of developing the film and television industry independently in Arusha. Unfortunately, the film and television industries in Mombasa and Dar es Salaam had already developed, so he turned to cooperate with the two places.
However, even so, Arusha is not without the opportunity to get a piece of the pie. Although the film and television companies are in Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, Arusha can always build branches and filming locations!
In this way, Arusha may be able to divert some of the film and television industries from the two places in the future.
Of course, this is a long-term task. At present, Mayor Galenta’s goal is to establish tourist routes.
He said: "We have rich natural landscapes in the northern part of the plateau, so it is best to integrate these resources, which requires the construction of transportation routes, accommodation, catering and other service facilities."
“It would be great if a tourism loop could be formed so that every city could get a piece of the pie.”
“Ultimately, we will build an international comprehensive tourism park integrating sightseeing, adventure, travel, hunting, beach, fishing, mountaineering, hiking, recuperation, cycling, rafting, etc.”
Mayor Galenta finds it difficult to summarize the functionality and playability alone, which also confirms the prospects of the tourism industry in the northern part of the plateau.
However, sightseeing and hunting are undoubtedly very attractive to the outside world. For example, the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, the name alone is very eye-catching.
East Africa itself is a "paradise" for large wild animals, so hunting has become a very attractive and exciting activity.
"Hunting" is not completely banned in East Africa. There are many legal hunting areas where hunting activities can be carried out with government permission.
Moreover, most of these legal hunting areas are located in northern East Africa. This pattern is formed because the East African government supports the economic development of the north.
The resources and climate in the north of East Africa are far inferior to those in the south. This is reflected in the economy, where the industry and agriculture in the north are relatively weak compared to those in the south.
Of course, the south and north here are mainly divided according to the equator.
The equator passes through East Africa, bordering the Juba River Basin in Somalia in the east, the northern coast of the Great Lake (Lake Victoria) in the middle, and then crosses the entire Congo rain forest. Except for the Great Lakes area in the middle, most of the areas on both sides can be said to be "barren land."
Therefore, in order to support the economy of northern East Africa, the tertiary industry has become an important option. Due to climate and resource limitations, northern East Africa’s basic conditions in agriculture and industry make it difficult to compete with the south.
Mayor Galenta said: "However, the investment in this project is very huge and requires mutual coordination and cooperation among our provinces and towns. Therefore, in order to facilitate everyone's cooperation, we can set up a long-term meeting place in Arusha to coordinate the development of tourism in the northern plateau."
At this point, Mayor Galenta has revealed his true intentions. The ultimate goal of Arusha City is to become the core area of this project.
After all, this kind of cross-regional cooperation among multiple provinces and cities must have a center, and Arusha is obviously the option with the best comprehensive conditions.
The area mentioned by Mayor Galenta alone covers an area of more than 300,000 square kilometers, involving five provinces. For such a large area, if one wants to coordinate and integrate regional resources, Arusha, located in the center, is the best choice.
Others are naturally aware of the ambitions of Mayor Galenta and the City of Arusha, but not many people object because Arusha's location, transportation and resources are all essential to the realization of this project.
Not to mention anything else, Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, is located in Arusha. It is one of the most important tourism resources that attracts domestic and foreign tourists. It is impossible for them to move this mountain with an altitude of more than 5,000 meters. There are also many well-known volcanoes and lakes in East Africa in Arusha.
In addition, the Serengeti grasslands and the Great Rift Valley of East Africa also have important connections with Arusha. Arusha is the most convenient coastal route to these two regions, and overseas tourists must pass through the coastal areas. Therefore, the importance of Arusha as a regional transportation hub is self-evident.
Therefore, the participants did not object to setting Arusha as the central city for this tourism project, nor could they find any reason to object.
(End of this chapter)
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