TANZANIA has continued to register success in the tourism sector by increasing the number of tourists to various destinations in the country,
thanks to a number of efforts that the government is taking to improve contribution of the docket to the economy. Some of the efforts that have played a crucial role in marketing further tourism destinations and promoting Tanzania culture was the introduction of the Swahili International Tourism Expo (S!TE).
S!TE, which is an annual tourism event, is fully owned and managed by Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) and is considered a vital tool for promoting both domestic and international tourism.
The expo provides a good forum through which the tourism industry stakeholders and its connected services providers share experiences, become more aware of the available tourism products and opportunities, and of course how to use them.
Launched in 2014, S!TE has become a credible and influential platform for tourism networking and business transactions, thanks to the coordinated efforts by the ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, TTB, allied players and stakeholders.
The exhibitions that take the format of international travel and trade exhibitions with a conference element, focuses on topical tourism, marketing, sustainability, conservation and other market related issues.
In the past eight years, the event has proved to be an effective bridge between local operating tourism companies in East Africa especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with international tourism markets. In this year, the expo was held at the Mlimani city hall in Dar es Salaam between 21st – 23rd October. It was graced by the Vice President Dr Phillip Mpango.
This year’s expo attracted over 200 exhibitors from within and outside Tanzania; over 100 international buyers from within and outside Africa; and more than 5,000 trade visitors. Speaking during the official opening of the 6th edition of S!TE, Dr Mpango assured the government’s willingness and commitment to continue engaging the private sector on increasing productivity in tourism.
He said, private sector is a key contributor in the development of tourism and that the government is determined to improve the contribution of the sector to the national economy.
Dr Mpango assured investors that Tanzania was among the best destinations for investment and tourism due to its political stability, committed leadership, peace, conducive policy frameworks and abundant natural resources. Currently, Tanzania is endowed with a variety of tourist attractions categorised into natural, cultural, and man-made resources.
The country is the home to 22 national parks, 24 game reserves, 27 game controlled areas, 38 wildlife management areas, 19 nature reserves, one conservation area (Ngorongoro), three ramsar sites, more than 125 archaeological sites and historical sites.
Also, there are over 1,400 kilometres of coastline with pristine beaches, three marine parks and 15 marine reserves, three Great Lakes, and the Spice Island of Zanzibar.
“The existence of these attractions appeals to a significant number of tourists from different parts of the world to choose and visit destination Tanzania,” said the Vice President.
Available statistics have it that, a total of 742,266 tourists visited Tanzania tourism destinations between January and July 2022, up from 546,133 who were recorded during a corresponding period last year. The increase, which stands at 60 per cent of the previous data, became possible due to the government’s commitment and continued efforts to market the available tourism destinations within and outside the country.
“We are continuing to promote and market our tourism destinations available in the country, the target to even surpass the 1.5million tourists who visited Tanzania in 2019 before eruption of Covid-19 pandemic,” said recently Mr Felix John, the Acting Director General of TTB.
He said, due to Covid-19, the number of tourists who entered Tanzanian in 2020 dropped to 620,867 whereas the collections also declined to 714.5 million US dollars from 2.6billion US dollars in the year 2019.
“In 2021 the country received 922,892 tourists with a collection of 1.31 billion US dollars,” he said.
The expo also featured by the business forum was also attended by the Tanzania Private sector Foundation TPSF Chairperson, Ms Angelina Ngalula who said Tanzania was endowed with natural resources and comparative advantages that should be properly harnessed in order to significantly contribute to its economy.
“Also, we are supposed to invest in value-addition initiatives and promote Public Private Partnerships (PPP),” she said.
According to her, the government should also facilitate a smooth transition from the informal to the formal economy that is key to human-centred, inclusive, sustainable and resilient recovery of the sector.
For the financial year 2021-2022, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism was granted 90bn/- , which is equivalent to 6.9 per cent of the whole IMF loan of 1.3tri/- in emergency financial assistance to support Tanzania’s efforts in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.
All these initiatives are part of continued efforts to execute a strategy that will help the country to achieve its target of notching an income of 6 billion US dollars (about 14tri/-) from five million tourists in the year 2025.
This was also stipulated in the Third Five-Year Development Plan (FYDP III of 2020/2021 to 2025/2026) and article 67 of the election manifesto of the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) for the year 2020- 2025. FYDP III of 2020/2021 to 2025/2026), among other things, aspires to promote new tourism products development and diversification for sustainable growth and promote the southern tourist circuit as an alternative to other circuits through the REGROW initiative.
Tourism accounts for more than 17 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 25 per cent of foreign earnings. The sector possesses significant potential to contribute to the national economy and foreign receipts on account of the unique natural attractions present in the country relative to elsewhere on the continent.
The tourist attractions present in the country include national parks and game reserves, plants, mountains, valleys, waterfalls, and coastal areas.
To promote sector competitiveness and linkages, the FYDP III is prioritising the development and implementation of clear tourism legal and regulatory frameworks and strengthening public private dialogue and collaboration.
Tanzania targets an increase in income from the sector to notch 6 billion US dollars (about 14tri/-) from 5 million tourists come 2025, up from the current 1,527,230 arrivals and an income of 2.6 billion US dollars (about 5tri/-).
According to target indicators for the tourism sector, by 2025/26 real growth rate is projected to rise from the current 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent.
The plan envisages an average number of nights to be spent by a tourist to go up from 13 to 14, while average expenditure per tourist per day (non-package/package) (US) will increase from the current 216/379 to 326/455 in 2025/26.
The sector is envisaged to employ a total of 1,750,000 from the current 1,500,000, the share of foreign exchange earnings in percentage will raise to 27 from the current 25.
Other efforts taken by the government to promote tourism include the launch of the Tanzania Royal Tour Film, an idea that was crafted and effectively implemented by President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
The film that was officially premiered in April this year, aims to boost the contribution of Tourism sector to the economy. It is among efforts being made to hit the country’s target of five million tourists by 2025.
Speaking on the development of the sector, President Samia said tourism, which was severely battered by Covid-19 two years ago, was on the recovery path.
Foreign visitors tumbled three times to 620,000 in 2020 from upwards of 1.3 million the previous year but picked up to 922,992 last year. This, she said, was a 48.6 per cent increase while revenue earnings for 2020 were 714 million US dollars, rising to 1.2 billion US dollars in 2021.
“This was a 76 per cent increase. Now we are ready for the influx of tourists,” she said, expressing the optimism that the country would reap big from the sector given the on-going strategies.