Tanzania has approved a construction of a multi-million-dollar five-star lavish contemporary hotel within the Serengeti National Park, as it seeks to enhance leisure travel. The $18 million, stylish and eye-catching, Lake Magadi Serengeti Hotel, stands against the backdrop of two acres in the middle of the Serengeti National Park, with awe-inspiring views.
With its traditional elegant architecture and furnishings reminiscent of the early 1920s, the hotel would have 75 luxurious residential units with capacity to accommodate 150 high-end tourists. The local investor behind the ambitious tourist property, under the Wellworth Hotels and Lodges, says the five-star hotel will be operational in the first quarter of 2024, targeting locals and foreigners that are after exclusive luxury, coupled with unparalleled landscape and wildlife views.
Apart from giving the country the potential for its first world-renowned hotel, the owner, Mr. Zulfikar Ismail, is also linked an ambitious project to transform the entire Tanzania’s northern tourism circuit, into a leisure travel hub for the high-end local and foreign holidaymakers. “We are using the traditional African environmental friendly building materials on our hotel, not only to avoid disturbing nature, but also to offer the tourists a truly nature based ambiance” Mr Ismail says, adding that some of the most magnificent sunsets can be enjoyed from the terraces of the hotel.
“Whether you like to relax or to enjoy the serene and vastness of the Serengeti plains in one of our 75 comfortable and well-appointed bungalows, it is just one step out of your bed where wildlife will greet you with their smile,” he added. Themed around traditionally circular African houses with special roofs, and decorated with Africa’s woodcarvings and sculptures, the lodge harmonizes perfectly with its spectacular surroundings.
The drama however does not just stop with the great outdoors: it also flows through the split level interiors of the main building which all offer an unsurpassed generosity of space while somehow managing to combine an almost magically welcoming ambience of both warmth and cosiness supplemented by a variety of food options. “So our investment as Tanzanians, among others, intends to complement efforts by the government under President Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan in stimulating tourism growth to achieve five million tourists and $6.6 billion earning in 2025,” Mr. Ismail noted.
Billed to be one of the world’s exclusive and luxurious hotel with an array of leisure ambiance, the Lake Magadi Serengeti promises the ultimate African accommodation experience for high-end tourists, while viewing bigger game around the hotel. The Wellworth Hotels and lodges Ltd, is one of the prominent companies running a number of top-notch hotels namely Kunduchi Beach Hotel, Zanzibar Beach Resort, Tarangire Kuro Tree Tops Lodge, Lake Manyara Kilimamoja Lodge, Ngorongoro Mountain Lodge in Karatu and Oleserai Luxury camps in Serengeti.
Commenting on the project, Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) said the Wellworth Hotels & Lodges Limited has been allocated the area, through an official letter TNP/HQ/P.30/17 dated on June 04, 2015. The statement signed by the Senior Conservation Officer, Corporate and Public Affairs Manager, Ms Catherine Mbena indicates that the wellworth Hotels & Lodges Ltd, was awarded an area at Lake Magadi Serengeti for the purpose of establishing a top quality lodge after fulfilling all the requirements.
The custodian of 22 National Parks said that the local investor has followed all the laid-down procedures and that the property currently under construction, has ticked all boxes as far as park and the National Environmental Management Council (NEMC)’s regulations are concerned.
In a statement, TANAPA said: “The investor has been acquired a property clearance certificate number EC/EIS/2435 issued by the NEMC in May 16, 2016, after having successfully undergone through Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)”. Serengeti National Park is undoubtedly the best-known wildlife sanctuary in the world, unequalled for its natural beauty and scientific value, it has the greatest concentration of plains game in Africa.
The planet’s largest remaining wildlife migration with an annual loop of two million wildebeest across the Serengeti and the Maasai Mara Reserve is a key tourist allure, generating multi-million dollars annually. Nearly 700,000 tourists who visit the legendary Tanzania northern tourist circuit annually explore the Serengeti and have been fascinated by its millions of wildebeest each, driven by the same ancient rhythm, fulfilling their instinctive role in the inescapable cycle of life.
From the sprawling Serengeti plains to the champagne-coloured hills of Masai Mara, over 1.4 million wildebeests, 200,000 zebra and gazelle, relentlessly tracked by Africa’s great predators, migrate in a clockwise fashion over 1,800 miles each year in search for rain-ripened grass. There is no real beginning or end to the wildebeest’s journey. Its life is an endless pilgrimage, a constant search for food and water. The only beginning is the moment of birth.
