Samia’s call as ‘Royal Tour’ is unveiled in Dar es Salaam
President Samia Suluhu Hassan speaks at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre yesterday during the official launch in Dar es Salaam of Tanzania: The Royal Tour documentary. PHOTO | SUNDAY GEORGE
What you need to know:
- President Samia Suluhu Hassan yesterday urged tourism stakeholders and those from related sectors to create a friendly environment to draw more tourists
Dar es Salaam. President Samia Suluhu Hassan yesterday urged tourism stakeholders and those from related sectors to create a friendly environment meant to attract tourists.
Speaking yesterday during the launch of The Royal Tour film in Dar es Salaam, the Head of State said, Tanzania will soon start receiving many visitors.
She added that to attract them even further, what was being displayed in the film about the beauty of Tanzania and hospitality of Tanzanians, should be reflected on the ground. “We need to get prepared, we need to get rid of any sort of obstacles so that when tourists come they can enjoy their vacations,” said President Hassan.
She went further to explain that hotels and tourist vans should be in good shape to accommodate the visitors of various statuses.
She directed airports and ports to improve services so that visitors could feel at home and be good ambassadors of Tanzania when they go back home.
On the other hand, she urged stakeholders in the tourism sector to create an enabling business environment for investors who would be coming for the purpose of investing in hotels.
President Hassan expressed her optimism that through the film, the number of tourism plunged due to Covid-19, would go up. According to her, there was light at the end of the tunnel. She stressed the tourism sector has already started to become vibrant.
She disclosed that the number of international tourists jumped by 48.6 percent to 922,692 in 2021 compared to the previous year.
This in turn led to an increase in the sector’s foreign currency by 76 percent last year compared to $714,400 recorded in 2020. On the other hand, domestic tourists jumped from 562,549 in 2020 to 788,933 last year.
As it is, the revenue obtained from domestic tourists climbed by 28.8 percent to Sh12.4 billion.
There is a clear optimism among the tourism industry stakeholders that The Royal Tour initiative will transform the fortunes of the sector.
President Hassan said over 30 tourism agents from the US, France, Bulgaria and other countries had shown interest to visit Tanzania and explore tourist attractions, ready for marketing the same in their home countries.
After the recent launch of the historic documentary in the US, President Hassan unveiled it for the first time on her home soil in Arusha on April 28.
That was followed by the launch in Zanzibar on Saturday, with yesterday’s event in Dar es Salaam being the climax, ready for the film to go public via televisions and other channels.
