- Hard work pays – at least for strategic tourism markets such as Tanzania, which stands to become one of the world’s top destinations. Tanzania’s tourism industry emerged strong from a slump triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Over the past years, a number of top-rated tour firms and sites such as Trip Advisor, Safari Bookings, Visa First, and Craft Travel – have painted Tanzania as one of the most favorable tourist destinations in Africa.
Tanzania is now placed in the same league as South Africa, Africa’s most desired destination by tourists belonging to the Luxe Traveller Club. With iconic Mount Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater are some of the leading tourist attractions across the world among its offerings, you don’t have to look far to understand why.
“I was fortunate to stay at the Ngorongoro crater lodge, a stunning five-star hotel, probably one of the best in Tanzania if not Africa,” a US visitor commented on the exquisite landscape of Ngorongoro crater cited by Craft Travel, a US-based tour firm.
“We think this is the experience you can’t miss in Tanzania.” A positive comment by a tourist enjoying the Mikumi National Park experience was published on the world’s top travel website, Trip Advisor.
These are just a few of the experiences tourists from across the world share as Tanzania gears up for an even bigger mission to attract more tourism receipts.
A new plan is, however, underway to accelerate the country’s journey to becoming the destination of choice for holidaymakers. Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) has signed nearly $70 million worth of deals that seek to enhance tourism offerings as competition from neighboring Kenya and Uganda intensifies.
Under the umbrella project of a Resilient Natural Resource Management for Tourism and Growth (REGROW) project, TANAPA bagged four agreements that are billed to expanding tourism investments in the southern region circuit.
The Tanzanian Ministry of Tourism inked the deal structured in four segments–categorized in tourism facilities and airport infrastructures to be executed in four national parks, Ruaha, Mikumi, Udzungwa and Nyerere.
The country’s tourism industry emerged strong from a slump triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic immediately when global travel re-started and hotels posted increased footfall of holidaymakers.
Prior to Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s intervention in March 2021, the tourism sector and one of the nation’s key foreign currency earners was in bad shape, recording a fall of 600,000 visitors from a record mark of 1.5 million tourists who landed in the country in 2019.
The odds were not in Tanzania’s favour. The late President John Magufuli’s stance on refusing to deploy Covid-19 curbs in sync with other competing markets such as South Africa and Kenya, send negative sentiments to key tourist source markets globally.
However, later in 2021, under President Samia’s administration, recognition of Covid-19 pandemic in the country followed by mass rollout of vaccinations saw tourist numbers jump from 600,000 to over 900,000.
The Tanzania tourism industry employs at least 100,000 indirectly within the national parks, while direct employment under TANAPA stands at 1,500.
According to TANAPA, around $1.2 million in revenue was earned during the 2016/2016 financial year, and the numbers rose to $17.8 million during the 2018/2019 financial year.
Recently, Tanzania established three national parks—Nyerere, Ugola and Kigosi—covering around 47,000 square kilometers partly to counter stiff competition as other strong markets South Africa, Rwanda and Kenya equally press the gas pedal in unveiling fresh offerings in the business.
Read: Tanzania: Ngorongoro saga could cost tourism billions
Tanzania on the top
According to data from the Bank of Tanzania, the hospitality sector contributes at least 53 percent of the total service receipts amounting to $4.77 billion in 2022. The country projects to collect $6 billion in revenue by 2025.
Over the past years, a number of top-rated tour firms and sites such as Trip Advisor, Safari Bookings, Visa First and Craft Travel have painted Tanzania as a favorable tourist destination.
Craft Travel gave Tanzania a unique look in this context by predicting the nation as a major tourist destination in Africa in 2023. The latter is attributed to the nation’s efforts to maximize its naturally endowed tourism attraction.
According to The Citizen, the US-based travel agents cite Tanzania’s wildlife splendor and breathtaking landscapes as key in attracting visitors. Tanzania is sampled alongside South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Rwanda as the likely leading destinations this year.
The country has also acquired a modern boat for marine tourism across the Indian Ocean. According to the Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, Mohamed Mchengerwa, the boat has been christened Tawa Sea Cruiser, made by native Tanzanians through the Songoro Marine Transport Ltd Company and is capable of taking about 50 tourists at a time.
In the same line, the minister stated that tourist boats would support the increase and promote local tourism, facilitating tourists from different parts of the world will experience Tanzania’s exotic attractions.
Consequently, Tanzania is reaping the benefits of investing in tourism, as it hosts docked ships in various ports across the country with approximately 400 tourists from different parts of the world.
Tourism promotion will still be Tanzania’s key initiative. The latter is depicted via the success of the Royal Tour documentary, which turned out to be a game changer and took the world by surprise, same as regional markets, as a private partnership in the tourism sector is now storming in Tanzania.
