Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba launched and handed over 21 tourism infrastructure projects valued at TZS 114.62 billion (approximately $45.8 million) on February 11, marking the largest single investment in Tanzania's southern tourism circuit to date. The centrepiece was the inauguration of Mtemere Airport inside Nyerere National Park.

The projects were implemented under the Strategic Southern Tourism Circuit Development Programme, a government initiative to expand visitor access and capacity across the country's less-trafficked southern parks. The 21 facilities comprise 131 individual units spread across Nyerere, Ruaha, and Mikumi National Parks and the Kilombero Nature Forest Reserve. Infrastructure types include park entry gates, visitor information centres, guest camps, rest areas, guest houses, student hostels, an ecological monitoring centre, and ranger posts.

Mtemere Airport, located in Mloka Village in the Coast Region, features a 1.8-kilometre runway and a passenger terminal capable of handling 140 arriving and 140 departing passengers simultaneously. The airstrip gives the southern circuit a dedicated air gateway, addressing a longstanding access constraint that has kept tourist numbers below the levels seen in the northern Serengeti-Ngorongoro corridor.

Beyond built infrastructure, the government procured 61 vehicles, 18 heavy machines, 46 trucks, and seven tractors for park operations and conservation management. "This has been President Samia's hallmark — less talk, more action," PM Nchemba said during the inauguration, directing authorities to maintain the new facilities to international standards.

Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Ashatu Kijaji attributed the expansion to sustained capital allocation, noting that "this growth is the result of significant and strategic investment in the conservation sector." Under President Samia Suluhu Hassan's administration, tourist arrivals have risen 149%, reaching 2,294,495 visitors in 2025, up from 922,692 previously.

The southern circuit push comes as Tanzania positions tourism alongside mining and energy as a pillar of its Vision 2050 economic strategy. The government has signalled it will continue creating conditions for private sector participation in conservation-linked tourism, particularly in underutilized parks where new infrastructure can unlock lodging and safari concession opportunities.