Tanzania is looking to capture new non-traditional markets including China, South Korea, Brazil, Qatar, Oman, and also other African States
Aiming to attract 5 million tourists from next year and generate USD 6 billion in overall tourism receipts, compared to the current 2 million tourists who spent about USD 3.6 billion, East African nation Tanzania is now looking to promote new territories as well as take its campaign to lesser-known markets.
The Tanzanian government is focussing on developing destinations in its coastal and southern and western regions rich in historical and natural resources rather than traditionally popular touristic spots.
According to a statement by the Tanzanian government, to reach its targets, Tanzania is looking to capture new non-traditional markets including China, South Korea, Brazil, Qatar, Oman, and also other African States. The statement adds that a key tourist market for Tanzania is Asia, with the Chinese tourist market leading the pack.
The statement adds that sports is the other tourist product which Tanzania is targeting through the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2027 tournament, taking advantage of the big number of foreign visitors expected to land in East Africa for the football matches.
Angellah Kairuki
“The government had targetted sports to be the other source that would attract international tourists to spend their holiday in Tanzania in addition to the popular wildlife safaris. Football matches attract more people than other sports globally, so Tanzania wanted to attract more football fans,” says Angellah Kairuki, Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism.
“The Ministry has planned to broaden its promotion of tourism within and outside Tanzania through popular sports leagues and competitions to attract more tourists,” she adds.
The statement adds that Tanzania is currently constructing a 30,000-seat capacity stadium in the northern tourist city of Arusha partly for the 2027 AFCON finals, while targetting sports and tourism development in Northern Tanzania.
“We will continue to participate in exhibitions and tourism events to promote our tourist attractions through international airlines including Qatar Airways, Emirates and Turkish Airlines,” Kairuki says.
Other priorities were development of strategic tourism products including historical sites, beach tourism, conferences and events tourism, cruise ship and marine tourism, as well as health and cultural tourism, the statement adds.
This also includes the less developed tourist attractive sites and new wildlife safari destinations in Tanzania notably in Southern Highlands and Western Tanzania. These include Ruaha, Katavi, Nyerere, and Mahale national parks.
The statement adds that the development of tourism in Western Tanzania would entail rehabilitation of roads and transport infrastructure, development of tourists’ accommodation sites which includes camping sites in western parks including Gombe and Mahale chimpanzee parks.
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