Zainab Ansell wins exemplary women entrepreneur award

By Evance Ng’ingo, 6th April 2011

Sheer determination to succeed made Zainab Ansell to be the woman she is today, a successful businesswoman and she has an award to prove that. Earlier this year she received an award for Business Entrepreneur of the year for running a successful tour operating company, managing 950 employees.

Zainab founded Zara Tours in 1987 in Moshi. Her company started offering climbs to Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro, as well as safaris to the national parks. Today, Zara is one of the largest Kilimanjaro outfitter and one of the largest safari operators. It also operates two hotels and three tented camps, as well as offering trips to Zanzibar.

What makes this tour operator different from the rest is that it has a record 88 registered guides who are conversant in English, German and Spanish languages. Zara entered into the hospitality industry in 2000 when Zainab and her husband, Roger, opened the Springlands Hotel in Moshi, named after the nearby crystal clear springs.

The hotel is an ideal base for treks to Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru. Shortly after that, the couple added a mobile wildlife camp at the world famous Serengeti National Park and a permanent camp at Ikoma, two of Tanzania’s traditional safari hotspots. In 2007 Zara opened the Highview Hotel, located on a hillside adjacent to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which is managed by Zainab’s daughter Leila.

Apart from owning hotels and tour agencies Zainab has also been active within her community, being one who is passionate about the future of Tanzania that includes the environment, the youth, women as well as guides and porters in Kilimanjaro. “ When I started this company I had an imagination that one day I would be among the best tour operators in the country.

Now I can say that at least I have achieved my dream and I am still struggling to open hotels in Saadan and other places in the country” says Zainab. The Managing Director of Frontline Corporate Company Irene Kiwia says that Zainab was awarded the best female entrepreneurship in 2011 because she emerged as the best role model who has opened the eyes of many mothers.

“Zara can be used as an example to little girls, especially the secondary and colleges by showing them how they can succeed, especially if you believe and have goals. “Personally I see that this woman is a model and therefore has not certified this award because he has not for many as 10,000 workers this man who had sake and today has added space for others this is a good example and role model,” says Irene Zara Tours also practices sustainable tourism and a portion of the company’s proceeds goes to these causes, with Zainab working to make the area benefit, rather than suffer, from the increase of tourism activities.

Zara Tours - Charity Organizations & Corporate Responsibility

The company also supports local schools, local charities, Amani Children’s Home, Mount Kilimanjaro Porters Society, local women’s rights groups, employment programs, environmental programs, cultural programs, the African Studies Institute at the University of Georgia, Sustainable Tourism Development and Wildlife Now.

The Mount Kilimanjaro Porter Society was founded by Zara Tours in 2004 with the goal to improving the working condition of all porters on Mount Kilimanjaro and other hiking areas in Tanzania. Today, most porters serving Mount Kilimanjaro climbers (and all porters of Zara) are members of the Society and benefit a lot from various resources such as classes in languages, environmentally sustainable tourism, healthcare and first-aid.

They also receive training in providing customer service, human rights, legal advice, assistance in micro-finances to improve their family’s living conditions and guarantee a proper education of their children, on top of year-round employment possibilities, and access to an affordable equipment and clothing store.

In order to support those in need in a more holistic and sustainable way, and in order to encourage more people to get involved, Zainab decided to launch the ZARA Charity. This charity has brought together a group of charitable organizations that provide valuable relief to suffering Tanzanian communities by providing basic needs to the disadvantaged group, we can not do everything but we can do something.

Zainab’s aim is to give these communities the firm ground of support they need to better themselves and to reach their full potential. ZARA Charity, was founded in 2009, as a separate charitable organization, ZARA Charity, its operations, and its finances are distinct from ZARA Tours.

While ZARA Tours provides some financial support to this organization, any and all monetary or material donations remain with ZARA Charity to be passed on to different needy groups, i.e. the orphans, street children and different women groups.

ZARA Charity believes in complete and comprehensive accountability that ensures responsible application of all donor contributions to the specific causes they wish to help. If donating to the Charity as a whole, then this entails guaranteeing that donated funds are given directly and completely to the needy.

Dear Ms. Ansell,

Congratulations- “Hongera”!

On behalf of the Tanzania Tourist Board, we are pleased to inform you that Zara Tanzania Adventures has been selected to receive the Tanzania Tourist Board Sustainable Tourism Award for 2011. The TTB Awards were created to support and show appreciation to the travel professionals and media who have worked hard promoting and selling Tanzania as well as to provide an incentive to increase the numbers even more in the coming years.

We understand that you have not received your TTB Award from last year. The actual award presentations are still to be confirmed and we will keep you updated.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Warm Regards,

Chanel LeMond

TTB USA

Women must work hard in business

The Global Report on Women in Tourism (GRWT) an initiative by the United Nations World Tourism Organizations (UNWTO) has recently marked a new era for incorporating gender issues in the tourism sector.

It provides detailed statistical information on women’s role and their status in the tourism industry, offering recommendations on how to improve the current situation. UNWTO and UN women believe that tourism can be a vehicle for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Yet, much work needs to be done in order for this potential to be realized. One of the Great Female entrepreneurs, Ms Zainab Ansell who runs today, proudly, one of the biggest tourism
companies in Tanzania called, Zara Tours Company (Zara Tanzanian Adventures) was among the three women who attended UNWTO event in London, UK in November, this year.

The event debated among other issues, tourism’s potential for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment while at the same time examining current challenges and gaps to gender equality in the sector.

UNWTO event

Gender and Sustainable Tourism Development: Exploring the Links

9 November 2011, 12:30 – 13:30

Northern Room 8, World Travel Market, London, U.K.

1. Ms. Zainab Ansell, Founder and Director of Zara Tanzanian Adventures and Member of the Sustainable and Solidarity Tourism Network of the Spanish Banesto Foundation, related her experiences as a successful female entrepreneur. She explained how she managed to make her company one of the largest Kilimanjaro outfitters and one of the biggest tourism companies in Tanzania. She spoke of the bravery it took to “walk the path”. She explained that women face many challenges when becoming entrepreneurs in developing countries. “There is an entrenched social believe in Africa that women are supposed to stay at home. At times, society even does not expect you contribute to public life or to benefit the economy”, she observed.

2. Ms. Ansell explained that a key challenge she faced was access to credit. As she did not have a credit record, and given her gender, it was difficult to convince the loan officer to grant her a loan to launch her business and even harder, she recalled, getting licenses from the government. However, “it was perseverance and resilience that kept me going when facing these barriers”, she recalled.

3. Her determination grew in the early 1980s, Ms. Ansell said, while working for Tanzanian’s National Airline (ATC). “Working with ATC created a dream; I wanted to open my own Travel Agency”. She was especially keen to move up from a clerical position, which, she held, “is often the place where women stay, not advancing to professional or leadership positions.”

4. Ms. Ansell recounted the story of how her company grew over time. In 1986, she used her savings and opened “Zara International Travel Agency” and began selling air tickets. However, when she applied for IATA Membership, it was not granted, and she had to work for over a year to prove herself. Thereafter, she was finally given the license which opened the doors and gave her the credibility to attract clients for Kilimanjaro and Safari excursions.

5. By 1990, as her business was steadily profiting, a second office was opened to promote safaris. Since this was before the advent of the internet, Ms. Ansell had to go to bus stations to sell safari tours. “There was finally an advantage of being a woman” she joked. “Tourists felt they could trust me because of being a woman”. In her first trips to international tourism fairs she recalled that those in attendance were surprised and suspicious to see a woman selling trips to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. In the mid-nineties, she expanded into the hotel sector, opening a small hotel which attracted customers due to its good service and affordable prices, and which was later expanded to a hotel of 80 rooms.

6. Ms. Ansell informed the gathering that her company employs many single women, training them especially in the areas of housekeeping, reception work, and as guides. “We are breaking stereotypes that women cannot do it”, she emphasized. “Clients were surprised women can drive the car and take the client on Safari”. She also felt that seeing her as a role model and being reassured by her example has helped other women start small businesses. She encourages them with her own personal slogan of “you can do it” and does her best to include their products in her hotels´ supply chain.

7. Ms. Ansell also mentioned Zara Charity, a nonprofit foundation that finances its operations with 10% of her business revenue. Within its four areas of work, one is the Women´s Foundation where women acquire literacy skills and are able to make handicrafts that are later sold in the hotels. She also spoke of the company´s work with Maasai women, to whom they offer vocational training and whom they help market their handcrafts. They have constructed a waterhole in the village, saving the time and energy it previously took to get water in remote areas. “The Maasai women that work with us have been empowered and they are proudly helping their families”, she remarked.

8. Acknowledging that women’s rights have greatly improved in Tanzania over the past three decades, Ms. Ansell said this makes it easier for women to come forward and try to achieve their own particular goals and ambitions. While recounting anecdotes, Ms. Ansell recalled that high ranking public figures she has met are more open to women having a place in society, and are encouraging women to occupy public positions. She too encouraged women in the audience with her determined “you can do it” approach. “To achieve something worthwhile requires hard work, endurance and determination,” she concluded, however “gender should no longer be a challenge.”