Summary
·
The amount
($2.7 billion) could be the highest revenue ever generated by the economy from
tourism even in the pre-pandemic era
Arusha. Exactly one year ago, Tanzania’s tourism industry, which had been severely battered by
Covid-19, got a rare boost.The Royal Tour film was launched in
the United States by President Samia Suluhu Hassan in an effort to woo more
visitors and get the key economic sector moving.
It was not the timing of the event
that mattered most. The travel restrictions had started being eased globally.
It was the location of the event
which was key. The US has been the leading source market for tourists coming to
Tanzania for decades.
One year on, there is every sign
that the leading foreign exchange generating sector is on a fast rebound.
Travel receipts have almost doubled
to $2.7 billion during the year ending February, 2023, according to the Bank of
Tanzania (BoT).
This was attributed to the increase
in tourist arrivals “as the tourism sector finally makes a full recovery from
the Covid-19 pandemic period”.
The amount ($2.7 billion) could be
the highest revenue ever generated by the economy from tourism even in the
pre-pandemic era.
In 2019, for instance, tourism
earnings were estimated to be about $2.5 million from about 1.5 million
visitors.
BoT’s Monthly Economic Review for
March, 2023 shows that the country received 1.5 million visitors during the
year ending February, 2023.
This was more than the 959,329 that
were registered during the preceding year and above the pre-pandemic level of
1.5 million in 2019.
“This reflects continued recovery of
the tourism sector,” the central bank said, noting that increased tourism
earnings were in tandem with general increase in export revenues.
In a nutshell, Tanzania’s exports of
goods and services increased to $12.383 billion in the year ending February
2023.
It rose from $10.2 billion in the
corresponding period in 2022, driven mostly by non-traditional exports
(minerals and manufactured goods) and services receipts, mainly tourism.
Tourism sector stakeholders in
Arusha acknowledged the role played by the documentary for the fast recovery of
the sector through wooing visitors to the country.
“Of course, we had seen more
visitors and many inquiries were received. There are many,” said Mr Aafeez
Jivraj, the director of Tanzania Private Select Safaris.
He added in an interview with The
Citizen yesterday, “There is a flow of tourists after the premiering of the
film but the numbers are not so big.”
Mr Jivraj, one of the oldest hands
in tour operations, called for increased marketing of the country’s attractions
in order to sustain the numbers.
“There have always been some gaps in
tourism marketing in Tanzania. Yet it is very crucial,” he stressed, calling
for full involvement of the private sector.
He challenged the national tourism
agencies to recruit highly skilled personnel to undertake marketing of the
country’s attractions to the world.
These are the Tanzania Tourist Board
(TTB), Tanzania National Parks (Tanapa), the Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Authority (NCAA) and Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority (Tawa).
Mr Moinga Lesasi, a tourism officer
with TTB office in Arusha, acknowledged that “there is a good flow of tourists
to the country”.
He outlined new strategies underway
to promote the country’s attractions so as to woo more visitors from leading
tourism source markets.
These include bringing in leading
travel agents to the country to sample the leading sites such as Serengeti and
Ngorongoro.
Only recently, the board hosted
travel agents from Canada, Belgium, France and Spain and that more groups of
travel agents were on the way.
Mr Lesasi added that Tanzania would
continue to participate in more international tourism fairs abroad as part of
the promotion strategy.
Among the 13 of such fairs that
Tanzania participated in regularly are ITB Berlin, considered the world’s top,
WTM in London and Indaba in Durban, South Africa, seen as Africa’s largest.
Members of the Tanzania Association
of Tour Operators (Tato) contacted maintained that marketing remains the best
strategy to sustain the sector.
The quick rebound of tourism is one
of the success stories of President Hassan who took the country’s leadership in
March 2021 when the sector was on a decline. Within a year she featured in the
Tanzania Royal Tour documentary, the first time in the country’s history where
the Head of State played such a role in a film.
For her, it was part of efforts to
revive the tourism industry that was greatly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The initial launch was done in New
York on April 18, 2022 and filming in Los Angeles on April 21, 2022 and locally
in Arusha, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar at the end of April.
The documentary has had a ripple
effect in the tourism sector which until then earned the economy over $2
billion per annum.
The documentary was produced by award-winning
American travel journalist, Mr Peter Greenberg with President Hassan staging as
his tour guide.
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