Zanzibar — THE Zanzibar’s tourism sector is booming once again, with the latest figures showing a spike in travellers visiting the semi-autonomous Indian Ocean archipelagos.
According to data compiled by the Office of the Chief Government Statistician- Zanzibar (OCGSZ) in collaboration with Zanzibar Commission for Tourism (ZCT) and the Immigration Department, Zanzibar received 46,338 tourists in September 2022.
This is equivalent to a 79.5 per cent increase compared with 25,817 visitors recorded in September 2021. However, the number of arrivals recorded last September has decreased by 24.5 per cent compared to 61,388 visitors recorded in the preceding month, August 2022.
According to the Government Statistician, tourists from Europe continued to dominate the market by accounting for three quarters (75.5 percent) of the total visitors in September 2022.
Countrywise, France dominated the tourism market with 12.9 per cent of all visitors who entered Zanzibar in September 2022, followed by Germany with 11.6 percent while New Zealand trailed the list after recording less than one per cent.
The data shows that 43,020 visitors, equivalent to 92.8 per cent of the total visitors, entered through Airport, whereby 37,389 visitors of them entered aboard international flights and 5,631 aboard domestic flights. The remaining 3,318 visitors entered through seaport, of whom seven entered by cruise ship and 3,311 by sea ferries.
The bouncing back of the tourism sector is largely attributed to lessening Covid-19 pandemic and the Royal Tour film which showcases Tanzania’s abundant tourism sites.
The Tanzania Royal Tour documentary by President Samia Suluhu Hassan, is a one-hour film packed with tourism attractions, investment destinations, arts and cultural impressions available in Tanzania.
Zanzibar President Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi has equally made deliberate measures to promote and advertise the country as a preferred tourist destination.
President Mwinyi has said that as the country continues to record a “steady rebound” in visitor arrivals after the pandemic, investors should get prepared for the expected influx of tourists including having more hotels and restaurants.
Tanzania’s tourism sector has continued to recover from the shackles of Covid-19 pandemic, boosting the East African nation’s economy.
Recently, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released new figures of tourist arrivals in the country, showing a sharp rise to 1,175,697 visitors between January and October 2022, compared to 716,741 during the corresponding period last year.
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According to the NBS Director of Economic Statistics, Daniel Msolwa there was a noticeable increase of 458,956 tourists, which is equivalent to a 64 per cent rise, attributing the increase to the much publisised Royal Tour documentary and other initiatives by the government.
In October 2022 alone the number of tourists who entered the country increased to 141,517, compared to 92,345 visitors in 2021, which is equivalent to a 53.2 per cent increase, the NBS official revealed.
Mr Masolwa said that from the African continent, Kenya was leading by the large number of tourists who visited Tanzania in October this year with 15,701 tourists, followed by Burundi (8,929 tourists), South Africa (3,802), Rwanda (3,715) and Uganda (3,229).
He explained that France recorded the highest number of tourist arrivals from outside Africa with 12,543 tourists, followed by the United States of America (USA) with 9,097 tourists, Germany (8,874), United Kingdom (6,514) and Italy (4,557).
“The increase of tourists is attributed to the government’s continued efforts to promote tourism attractions within and outside the country in general and in particular through the Tanzania Royal Tour documentary by Dr Samia,” he noted.
“As you can see there is a massive increase of tourists entering Tanzania tourist attractions in this period compared to last year’s period. We hope in December we will receive a large number and we might approach the number of tourists entering the country in 2019 before Covid 19 pandemic,” he added.
