While the current global business trend is highly competitive, enterprises find mechanisms to enhance their competitive edge. Having seen that need, I decided to position my company differently from the traditional approach by investing equally in education. I have always believed that the sustainability of a business enterprise depends on many factors but not limited to the promotion of its employees’ competence and expertise. As such, I left my country for Ph.D. studies in Cyprus in September 2019. In February 2023, I graduated with a Ph.D. and officially became a Doctor of Philosophy in Tourism Management. With these qualifications, my company is now positioned as the only one in Zanzibar and Tanzania run by highly qualified management in tourism and hospitality-related credentials.
Being an ex-board member of the Zanzibar Tour Operators, my background in the tourism industry is traced back to 1996, when I worked as a porter in one of the Zanzibar hotels. I equally worked as a Tour guide for several companies in Zanzibar. My previous academic background (Master’s degree) and my long experience in tourism partly stimulated my ambition to establish a company in January 2006.
In my journey as a tour guide, I left a record to be the first French-speaking tour guide in Zanzibar to have graduated with French-related degrees. Likewise, during my days as a tour guide, I was the only guide holding a Master’s degree qualification though not in tourism-related studies. However, I joined a Bachelor of Tourism Management and Marketing at the State University of Zanzibar in 2014 to improve my understanding of tourism and hospitality. I graduated as the best student in the programme with first-class honours. Therefore, combining all these academic qualifications and long-term industry experience, Safina Tours is now shifting to the next level of high performance, high service quality, and customer satisfaction.
Karibu Zanzibar
Dr. Moh’d Juma Abdalla (Ph.D.)
Managing Director
Safina Tours and Safari Ltd
Zanzibar
