Samia sees swift growth of tourism in Tanzania

Tourism, a key sector of the economy, currently accounts for 17.2 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 25 percent of forex earnings.

“This is a massive contribution from one source of earnings,” she said, noting that the sector was poised for greater heights “if well marketed and promoted”.

Tanzania earned $3.07 billion from tourism activities during the year ending August 2023, officials figures show.

This, according to figures by the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), was a massive leap $2.1 billion registered during the year ending August 2022.

The country received 1,686,024 visitors during the year ending August 2023, from 1,279,211 in the year ending August 2022.

President Hassan emphasized that with 21 national parks, over 40 game reserves and dozens of forest reserves, Tanzania was unbeatable in natural attractions.  She pledged the government’s desire to work closely with the private sector to unlock the existing potentials of the country’s tourism industry.

She told a gathering of over 2,000 delegates from across the globe that doors were wide open for interested parties to invest in tourism projects in Tanzania.

Turning to Africa, the Tanzanian head of state challenged the African states to embark on strategic branding and marketing of tourism potentials in the continent.

“We (Africa) have unique natural heritage, unmatched beauty of diverse landscapes to reach the global audience”, she said in a speech broadcast live by various platforms.

However, President Hassan stressed the need for enhanced conservation and preservation of natural and cultural resources for tourism.

“What we inherited, we should pass on to the next generation. We should always minimize negative environmental impacts on them,” she pointed out.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and host to the high profile event said the tourism sectors in each of the East African Community (EAC) partner states reinforced one another.

He said although not all partner states have inked the single tourism destination protocol, tourists from abroad visited one country after another.

“Tourists to Rwanda often stepped into Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Burundi because the EAC is a single attraction that reinforced each other,” he said.

The Rwandan head of state challenged the African countries to strive hard to make tourism a key driver of economic growth and employment.

The summit was informed that tourism rebound was poised to reap big in Africa despite recent setbacks such as Covid-19 and war in Ukraine.

In ten-year time - by 2033- the sector will contribute more than $430 billion to the struggling African economies.

Africa will reap big as tourism, recently impacted by the global pandemic, was making a robust come back.

Tanzania’s President Hassan is the only foreign Head of State attending the summit, the first ever to be held in Africa, other than host President Kagame.

The gathering at the Kigali Convention Centre was set to attract over 2,000 delegates from across the globe.

WTTC has projected that tourism rebound would create more than 110 million jobs in Africa by 2033.

This year’s summit aims to enable Africa, in particular, to redefine its strategies to fully capture the emerging opportunities in travel and tourism. Francis Gatare, CEO of the Rwanda Development Board was quoted by the Rwanda media saying, the continent is set to benefit from the gathering.