Reaching New Heights

Towering above the plains of Tanzania stands one of the Seven Summits of the World: Mount Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet). Mountaineers from around the world visit annually to explore the region and summit the highest-free standing mountain above sea level.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mt. Kilimanjaro is significant to the region as both a key tourist attraction and a major economic driver for the people of Tanzania, generating close to $50 million per year and employing nearly 400 guides, 10,000 porters, and 500 cooks.

But to Philip Chitaunga, it means those things and more. It’s an opportunity to make an impact in the field of tourism in his home country of Tanzania.

Experience Meets Academia

Philip Chitaunga is both a Tanzanian citizen and a Ph.D. candidate in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. Chitaunga’s professional portfolio spans more than two decades, most recently serving as the Acting Director of Tourism at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism in Tanzania.

Charged with developing and evaluating tourism policies, he was responsible for attracting domestic and international tourists and facilitating the promotion of the country’s tourism industry.

Now, in collaboration with Dr. Bynum Boley, a professor of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management (PRTM) and Director of the UGA Tourism Research Lab, Chitaunga is investigating the economic and social sustainability of a proposed cable car project on Mt. Kilimanjaro.

A Chance Connection

So how exactly does Tanzania’s Ministry of Natural Resources and its Tourism Director connect with a professor in Athens, Georgia? It turns out, all it takes is a subscription to a tourism listserv.

“We have an academic tourism listserv called TRINET (Tourism Research Information Network) that circulates to tourism researchers around the world, and I had an open position for a PhD student that I shared on it. A professor in Tanzania shared it with Philip and that is how we found each other,” said Boley.

After the connection was made, Philip described a controversial proposed plan by Tanzania National Parks to install a cable car on the main trekking route that would take day trippers from the Machame Gate at 5,380 feet to the Shira Plateau at roughly 13,000 feet on Mt. Kilimanjaro.

When asked why he would be interested in taking Philip on as a student, Boley replied, “I thought, wow. Working with Philip can be more of a partnership instead of the traditional advisor-advisee relationship and an opportunity to work on such an important project with someone who has so much industry experience. He can teach me a lot about the practice of tourism, and we can work together to solve a problem that really is important to Tanzania.”

A Leap Across Continents

The decision for Philip to accept the position wasn’t as simple. As an International student, Philip would need to overcome personal challenges like leaving his family and navigating the cultural differences of living in a new country, in addition to logistical hurdles like his visa status, finances, and whether his previous academic qualifications would be recognized by the University.

“Before joining UGA, I read through online reviews about the quality of education offered at UGA and Warnell.”

After extensive research into the resources and opportunities available at UGA, Philip said “I was convinced that Warnell has the type of education I was looking for, particularly its research strength.”

The Cable Car Debate

The proposed cable car project came with its own concerns. Philip described Tanzania’s National Tourism Policy as one that embraces a high-value, low-density tourism strategy with a strong emphasis on supporting pro-poor tourism (i.e., tourism designed to lift people out of poverty).

While the cable car project would increase the number of tourists and revenue by offering a new day visitor opportunity, stakeholders in the tourism sector feared it could backfire by reducing the employment opportunities available to residents as porters, cooks, and guides for the vibrant trekking industry. Additional concerns were raised about cable cars potentially undermining economic, social, and environmental sustainability.

This situation puts Tanzania’s tourism industry in a dilemma with critical questions unanswered about implementing cable cars on Mount Kilimanjaro: will they be good for pro-poor tourism, would the mountain be less attractive to trekkers, and would they align with the Tanzania’s high-quality low-volume strategy?

“We're calling this cable car project a seismic tourism infrastructure decision. Once you build this, it's going to reverberate through the entire tourism industry of their country, and there is no going back,” said Boley.

Research on the Mountain

To answer these questions, Philip’s dissertation relies on survey data collected from trekkers and porters at the exit gates of Mount Kilimanjaro National Park. When taking the survey, trekkers are asked to evaluate whether the addition of the cable car will affect or lead to a decline in the quality of the trekking experience, overall satisfaction, and positive word-of-mouth about the experience.

Porters are asked to evaluate whether the addition of the cable car will economically, psychologically, and socially empower them and whether they support or oppose the cable cars.

Traditionally, tourism studies in Tanzania have focused on assessing the attitudes of residents or tourists separately regarding the effects of tourism development. This study directly engages both groups to evaluate the attitudes of porters as residents and the recreational experience of trekkers.

Climbing Toward the Future

Philip finished data collection this past summer during Tanzania’s peak tourist season and is beginning to analyze the data. His work has already received multiple awards, including first place poster at the Southeast Environment and Recreation Research Conference and the J. Desmond Slattery Award for best dissertation idea at the International Travel and Tourism Research Association's annual conference.

Beyond his dissertation focused on Mount Kilimanjaro, Philip is motivated to continue his doctoral studies and expand his knowledge about the tourism industry. “By pursuing my Ph.D. at Warnell, I will be able to contribute to sustainable tourism development, ensuring future generations will have a chance to enjoy the resources we enjoy today.”

When asked what this project means to him, Philip said, “As the first study of its kind in Tanzania, it offers an important contribution to the tourism literature, mainly within the context of nature reserves such as Mt. Kilimanjaro. I am proud to be the one contributing to that knowledge.”

With generational implications at stake, Philip aims to defend his dissertation in April 2025 and provide his conclusions to Tanzania’s tourism stakeholders. Philip hopes his research can help Tanzania’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism make an educated decision about the cable car project to best benefit his country. “Stakeholders attitude may seem like a little thing, but it extremely influences the success of major development projects. It is my sincere hope that the findings of this dissertation will provide answers to take the sector in the right direction.”

First published in the Winter 2024 edition of The Warnell Log. Since then, Philip has reached another milestone — defending his dissertation and completing his doctoral program in spring 2025.