usiness travel makes an important contribution to the growth of Tanzania 's tourism industry, so it is essential that the country has hotels offering service that is up to international standards. One of the first quality hotels in Tanzania was Hotel Sea Cliff , which opened in Dar es Salaam in 1998 and has maintained its occupancy rate at 80 to 90% ever since, despite increasing competition.

The Sea Cliff offers all the facilities to be expected from an international hotel. There are 86 rooms, all en suite and fitted with satellite television and international direct-dial telephone. The executive floor comprises nine rooms and three suites. There are six conference rooms, with a full range of audio-visual equipment, and a dedicated business center with full secretarial support.
The hotel has two restaurants— the Karambezi Café and the Little India Restaurant— as well as bars, shops, a gym and a casino. Hotel Sea Cliff's competitive advantages over its rivals include an exclusive location facing the Indian Ocean and the generous size of the hotel itself. The service it provides to its guests has won the hotel an enviable reputation for the relationship it has built with its corporate clients.

Hotel Sea Cliff offers executive rooms, conference facilities and a dedicated business center.

General Manager Keven Stander pinpoints what he regards as the key to Hotel Sea Cliff's success. “We have proved there is a market for quality accommodation,” he says. “Other hotels have now come into the market, but we were among the pioneers. “We are one of the big three in the country. We have our own identity. We offer personalized services, and we understand the needs of our clients.” The hotel is expanding and updating. “The rooms will get a complete refurbishment, even though they are only five years old,” says Mr. Stander. “The Karambezi Café will get a double story with a sun deck.” This investment reflects the hotel's confidence in Sea Cliff's role in an expanded Tanzanian tourism industry. “We would not be pouring money in if we were not doing well and were not positive about the future,” Mr. Stander adds. “We want to be the first choice among the country's hotels. That comes by perseverance and high-quality service.” The standards are set by the hotel's in-house training program. Mr. Stander is a firm believer in on-the-job training for his staff. “We give training in the hotel. We have a classroom, and we run videos and training sessions.” One significant improvement has been in the ease with which guests can get to the hotel. “It used to be by dirt road,” says Mr. Stander. “Now the road has been paved, and we are just a ten-minute drive from the town center.” He believes that Tanzania is catching up fast on African locations that launched their tourism industries earlier. “Mombasa and Nairobi entered the tourism market 15 years ahead of us,” he says. “We started from a different background. Now we have realized our potential. It will take time, but we will get there.”

erched atop the northeastern peak of the Msasani Peninsula as it juts out into the magical blue waters of the Indian Ocean is the spectacular Sea Cliff Hotel, Tanzania's finest contribution to East Africa's budding tourism market. Set among lush, beautifully manicured gardens and with priceless views of the ocean, the 107-room hotel provides an idyllic and tranquil setting for both business and pleasure activities. The hotel of choice for discerning visitors, Sea Cliff Hotel offers air-conditioning, satellite television, butler service, dry cleaning, same-day laundry services, mini-bar, direct international dialing and 24-hour room service in all its elegantly furnished rooms. For those who require that extra touch, there are eight executive rooms and four luxury suites on the Executive Floor, all offering breathtaking views of the sunrise over the Indian Ocean and the hotel gardens. An affordable piece of paradise, the hotel's room rates range from $140 per night for standard rooms to $180 for executive rooms.

Hotel Sea Cliff offers executive rooms, conference facilities and a dedicated business center.

Purposely designed to provide high quality executive support, the Sea Cliff's Business Center offers a full range of services, including full secretarial support, telephone, fax and email servicesas well as photocopying, printing, and scanning.

Sea Cliff Hotel is top among Tanzania's new generation of hotel accommodation providers following the liberalization of the tourism sector throughout the last decade. First opening its doors in 1998 with 59 rooms, the hotel has since expanded its capacity and services, branching out into property development with the construction of its Sea Cliff Village. Situated adjacent to the hotel, Sea Cliff Village is a shopping and entertainment complex that is comprised of 42 retail shops, a medical center, a supermarket, a family restaurant, a sports café, six fast food restaurants, commercial office facilities, and 22 hotel rooms.

General Manager Keven Stander, comments, “Tanzania has undergone and continues to undergo tremendous development in its tourism sector, and central to that is hotel business development. The number of rooms available in the upper end of the market in Dar es Salaam has more than doubled in the past few years. We have two hotels operating successfully here and we are continuing to expand.”