Samia's influence in tourism rebound

Arusha. When President Samia Suluhu Hassan took the mantle of the country’s leadership on March 17th, 2021, the tourism sector was still in shock.

The number of visitors had plummeted to about 600,000 (in 2020) from a record 1.5 million tourists recorded in 2019.

Although the economy was not entirely in distress, the fall of visitors rattled foreign exchange as tourism had been the largest earner.

President Hassan continued with her predecessor’s policies to counter the ripple effects of the pandemic on the economy. But on tourism, she adopted bold measures that provided quicker results in the two years she has been in office.

The late President John Magufuli had refused to lockdown Tanzania, which probably spared the country from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Magufuli’s refusal to roll out vaccination had a negative effect on tourism, however, as international visitors skipped.

When she took over power, one of the first things President Hassan did was to initiate mass vaccination.

From July 2021, vaccination was rolled out, creating confidence in the tourism sector, and slowly the number of visitors started to climb.

By the end of 2021, figures of tourist arrivals had gone up to slightly over 900,000 from a mere 600,000 recorded for the entire year of 2020.

The gains continued, and in the year ending January 2023, ravel receipts almost doubled to $2.641 billion as tourist arrivals rose to 1,500,648 in 2022 from 938,017 during the preceding year, the Bank of Tanzania’s latest figures show.

This means that the country was closer to full recovery as the pre-pandemic number of tourist arrivals stood at 1,527,230 in 2019.

Of course, there is no contention that the increase is largely attributed to the lifting of lockdowns in the tourism source markets.

But credit must also go to all players in the industry, including the government, for the seemingly (and perhaps unexpectedly) faster recovery of the key sector.

With the rebound looking more real, the government is now seeing the possibility of Tanzania receiving five million tourists by 2025.

Five million visitors would earn the economy a hefty $6 billion, roughly four times what was generated last year when 1.4 million tourist arrivals were recorded.

Officials of the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB), a state agency responsible for tourism marketing abroad, said the target was, indeed, possible given the commitment shown.

Measures already underway to attain the goal include upgrading passenger facilities at the airports, notably Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) in Dar es Salaam.

The airport, which was massively expanded a few years ago with the construction of Terminal 3, will be further expanded to enable it to handle more aircraft.

There had also been suggestions to upgrade the facilities at the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) and lower the landing fees to enable it to attract more international careers.

Tanzania would also continue to take part in major international tourism fairs in order to promote the country’s old, new, and emerging tourist sites.

Notable among the highly rated global tourism Expos are ITB Berlin, held in March every year in Germany, and the World Tourism Market (WTM), held in London every November, among others.

TTB officials maintain that despite the emerging challenges at the tourism source markets, such as the war in Ukraine, the flow of tourists will be sustained.

Roman Chuwa, a tourism stakeholder in Arusha, believes that Tanzania has a greater potential to attract more foreign visitors compared to its competitors.

“In terms of wildlife and nature-based attractions, we are second to none,” he told The Citizen, noting, however, that tax-related hurdles must be addressed.

Mr Chuwa, who is the director of Equatorial Safaris, an outfit based in the safari capital, cited the $59 per person, per night concession fee for visitors spending nights in the national parks.

Sirili Akko, the executive secretary of the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (Tato), an Arusha-based lobby, commended the tireless efforts done by the government to promote Tanzania’s destination in international source markets.

“Promoting the country as the best tourism and investment destination will surely sustain the momentum,” he told The Citizen during an interview on the tourism prospects.

However, he insisted that the effort needed the collaborative efforts of both the public and private sector players, with the public sector having to be more facilitative.

Tourism rebound has also been attributed to The Royal Tour film, a documentary on Tanzania’s tourism hotspots that was unveiled in the United States early last year, featuring President Hassan as a tour guide.

The documentary was later launched in various local cities, including Arusha, the country’s tourism hub, and Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital of Tanzania and Zanzibar.

President Hassan was the main character of the film, which was shot in various parts of the country, notably in the northern circuit, Zanzibar, Dar es Salaama nd Bagamoyo.

“It was a good initiative. It’s a positive thing. Maybe we have started to see more tourist arrivals due to the publicity blitz by the Royal Tour film,” said Aafeez Jivraj, a tour operator.

Initially, the film premiered in New York on April 18th and Los Angeles on April 21st. For over a decade now, the United States has been the leading tourism source market for Tanzania.

Ocean tourism

According to the Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, Mohamed Mchengerwa, it was due to the initiatives that the government has undertaken—including The Royal Tour documentary—that ships carrying tourists have been coming to Tanzania in line with efforts to promote ocean tourism in the country.

The latest one is the Le Jacques Cartier Ponant, which is anchoring on the beach of the historic town of Kilwa with 110 tourists this week.

The tourists will have the opportunity to visit and see the Cultural Heritage Park of Ancient Ruins, Kilwa Kisiwani, and Songo Tower, and do ancient tourism as well as beach tourism.

Within one week, Tanzania has already received about 400 tourists who came to see and visit Kilwa.

Apart from the French Le Jacques Cartier Ponant, other vessels that have docked in Tanzania during the past few weeks include the luxury tourist ship “Coral Geographer” from Australia, which brought 120 tourists on March 7.

Another ship is expected to enter the country on March 14 this year with 138 tourists.

On that day, Mr Mchengerwa said, he will also launch a new modern ship owned by the Government of Tanzania through Tawa which will be used for tourism activities.

“We congratulate and thank President Hassan for sourcing the funds to purchase this boat, which is of an international standard. Now we have great expectations that the President is going to open up Tanzania to sea tourism, and tourists have already started flocking to see our tourist attractions on the seaside,” explained Mr Mchengerwa.

Analysts say Tanzania has several marine attractions that have not been taped, including those on the list of marine species that are in danger of extinction in the world (CITES).

These creatures include mermaids, potwe, turtles, and silicants, which have all been seen in the Tanzanian sea area.

He has said that the Tawa Sea Cruise boat has been made by a Tanzanian company, the Songoro Marine Transport Ltd, and is capable of taking about 50 tourists at a time.

He has explained that the government of Tanzania is still determined to reach 5 million tourists and bring in a national income of 6 billion dollars by the year 2025.

Alais Morindat, a conservation consultant, says the rebound in tourism after the Covid-19 pandemic is enough of a sign that Arusha continues to maintain its status as a hub of tourism.

The northern regions, and Arusha in particular, remain the most preferred destinations for most tourists coming to Tanzania, despite the diversification of tourism attractions.

“In tourism, Arusha has many types of attractions, not only wildlife,” he said, citing the rich cultural insights of the Maasai and other communities.

Among the sites well featured in the Royal Tour film include the world-famous Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) and the Serengeti National Park. These two are the leading destinations.

Tourism stakeholders said the Royal Tour served as a starting point for aggressive marketing of the country’s tourist attractions through the media post-pandemic.

However, some players in the industry insisted that there was a need to make Tanzania an affordable destination for tourists.