Tourism boost as Qatar Airlines resumes flights
What you need to know:
Tourism is Tanzania’s leading foreign exchange earner. However, with lockdowns in major source regions, precipitated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the government now projects that the number of visitors will drop from 1,867,000 to 437,000 while revenues from the sector would also drop from an earlier projection of Sh2.7 trillion to Sh598 billion.
Dar es Salaam. Qatar Airways yesterday officially resumed its scheduled flights between Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Doha, Qatar, raising hope of a rise in the number of tourists visiting the East African nation.
Tourism is Tanzania’s leading foreign exchange earner. However, with lockdowns in major source regions, precipitated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the government now projects that the number of visitors will drop from 1,867,000 to 437,000 while revenues from the sector would also drop from an earlier projection of Sh2.7 trillion to Sh598 billion.
Qatar’s Airbus-320 yesterday landed at Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) from Lon-don via Doha at around 7:18 am, with 119 passengers on board.
Qatar Airways becomes the second scheduled international flight to resume services to Tanzania after the flights were suspended in April at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Travelers say various countries have put in place measures that make them feel safe while travel-ling.
“From check-in at airports to flying through Doha coming to Tanzania, I felt very safe. Every air-port has put measures to minimize the risk of Covid-19 spreading.
They have been sanitizing, screening and maintaining zero contact among passengers. Even, onboard, the staff wore face masks,” Mr Arno Smith, a French traveler, told The Citizen shortly after his arrival at Terminal 3 of the JNIA in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
