Tourism grows swiftly as economy steams ahead
What you need to know:
- Tourism receipts jumped by 37.5 percent to $3.3 billion in the year to November 2023, while tourist arrivals rose by 27 percent to 1.797 million, according to the Bank of Tanzania’s monthly economic review for December 2023
Dar es Salaam. Tourism grew swiftly last year in both revenue and visitor numbers, driven by steady economic recovery from the ravages of Covid-19.
Tourism receipts jumped by 37.5 percent to $3.3 billion in the year to November 2023, while tourist arrivals rose by 27 percent to 1.797 million, according to the Bank of Tanzania’s monthly economic review for December 2023.
“The surge in travel receipts reflects the rebound of the tourism sector as tourist arrivals rose by 27 percent to 1.797 million,” the report says.
Tourism is currently Tanzania’s top foreign exchange earner, followed by gold, which brought in $3 billion in the year to November 2023, up from $2.8 billion earned the previous year.
Tanzania earned $2.526 billion in tourism receipts in 2019, during which 1,527,230 tourists visited the country.
However, following the imposition of strict travel restrictions worldwide after the outbreak of Covid-19, travel receipts plunged to $1 billion in 2020, with tourist arrivals crashing to 616,490.
The industry has since recovered, with numbers now matching official projections.
The government has set the goal of at least 5 million tourist arrivals and $6 billion in receipts by 2025.
Tourism stakeholders see a brighter future, but have called for strategic measures to be taken by the government and the private sector to ensure that Tanzania realises its full tourism potential in the next few years.
“The current situation augurs well for tourism. The future looks promising,” Hotel Association of Tanzania (HAT) chief executive Kennedy Edward told The Citizen.
He added that the industry was susceptible to global shocks, but the situation was not gloomy despite the outbreak of conflicts in some parts of the world.
Mr Edward applauded what he said was a change of culture among Tanzanians, who were now increasingly spending their disposable incomes by visiting local attractions.
“This shift of culture is very good for tourism. Population growth also means that disposable incomes are increasing and there is growing awareness among Tanzanians.”
Mr Edward also expressed his optimism that ongoing tourism marketing campaigns and other measures meant to sell Tanzania as a preferred tourist destination would attract more visitors.
