Why Tanzania is among most beautiful countries

Dar es Salaam. The recovery of the tourism sector has received another boost after Tanzania was ranked among the top 10 beautiful countries in the world.

Tourism was Tanzania’s leading foreign exchange earner, which generated $2.6 billion in 2019 while the number of visitors reached over 1.5 million.

However, the outbreak of Covid-19, which disrupted economic activities around the world, including travel, hit the sector with earnings dropping to the 11-year low of $795.8 million in the year to May 2021.

In 2021, the number of visitors increased to 1,400, according to President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s New Year speech, up from 620,867 visitors in 2020.

The recovery received the boost of the UK’s comparison service site, Money.co.uk global report titled ‘Natural Beauty’ which ranked Tanzania fourth globally, topping the continent with a natural beauty score of 6.98 out of ten supported by among others like a huge forest cover, high number of prominent mountains and a longer coastline.

The report indicated that Indonesia took the top crown with 7.77 points, followed by New Zealand (7.27) and Colombia (7.16).

The country, with the Highest Mountain in Africa-Mount Kilimanjaro, boasts of eleven ultra-prominent mountains, three volcanoes and 3,580 square kilometres of coral reefs area.

With 1,424 kilometres of coastline length, the East African nation also has 387,944 square kilometres of tropical forest area, it also has a total of 836 protected areas and 75 glaciers. “From magnificent mountains to colourful coral reefs, the world’s natural marvels are a huge draw for travelers,” said the report.

In Africa, Tanzania was followed by Kenya that was ranked sixth and Comoros which was ranked 10th globally.

While the ranking did not concentrate on the quality of beauty, it ranked countries based on the number of natural features like volcanoes, coral reefs, tropical rainforests and glaciers per 100,000 square kilometres.

“While beauty is ultimately subjective, it’s clear that these countries have a lot to offer visitors, whether you prefer adventuring in the mountains or relaxing by the coast,” according to the authors of the report.

Govt, experts happy

Speaking to The Citizen, the minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr Damas Ndumbaru, said the government will continue protecting the natural resources and attractions of the country.

“Our strategy is to continue investing more in branding our country and protecting our natural resources for next generations,” he said.

Tour operators and experts see the ranking as a step forward into recovering the tourism industry.

Zara Tours managing director Ms. Zainab Hansel said that fourth place means a lot to tourism stakeholders because it makes it easier to promote the attractions, considering the world was in the waves of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The government strategies have helped the country to get recognition including the Royal Tour filming by President Samia Suluhu Hassan. This helps us a lot to attract tourists,” she said.

“We played our role in ensuring we observe all the Covid-19 protocols, which is very important for tourists.”

For his part, Tourism Confederation of Tanzania (TCT) chairman Mr Richard Rugimbana said; “This is a huge opportunity for people who invest in tourism to well use the recognition to further their business.” He said different organizations have been recognizing Tanzania in terms of attraction due to the conservation of natural resources compared to other countries in Africa and they use international criteria.