Cultural tourism in Tanzania started as a program to help rural communities enjoy the benefit of tourism sector in which they are a part of. The program is the effort and initiatives of the Dutch Development organization know as SNV which has been directly involved in Tanzania's community development programs, especially in the rural areas. The main goal is that rural communities should directly benefit from tourists who visit their areas. Cultural tourism allows local people such as Maasai, Pare, Sambaa, Wa-arusha, Gogo, Nyakyusa and Wazaramo to offer tours that show their culture, their sacred places of worship, economic activities, for example, farming, pastoralism and fishing.
The income generated is used by local people for specific development programmes, such as, the building of dispensaries, schools and cattle dip sites.
