Tourism is a major economic sector in Tanzania, where safari tourism provides great financial revenue. The impacts of safari tourism on local people and ecosystems are crucial to investigate,...Show moreTourism is a major economic sector in Tanzania, where safari tourism provides great financial revenue. The impacts of safari tourism on local people and ecosystems are crucial to investigate, especially with only eight years left to fulfil the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations. As an increasing number of tourists wants to travel sustainably, it is necessary to examine how tourism affects local communities in Tanzania. Hence, this paper provides a qualitative analysis of two safari tourism operators with a claim to being sustainable, Thomson Safaris and Matriarch Africa, to showcase how their initiatives impact local livelihoods. The findings demonstrate the way in which the tourism businesses improve the security of local livelihoods by providing microfinance, hunger relief, educational, and health services. Such initiatives enhance the realization of the 2030 Agenda as they coincide with the Sustainable Development Goals. However, the research also identifies flaws in sustainable tourism initiatives such as restricted land access necessary for some people to maintain themselves, greenwashing of tourists into believing that their vacation is beneficial to locals while the efforts of the operator may be rather poor, and the neoliberalization of local communities that coincides with tourism initiatives.Show less
