Tanzania records 64 pct rise in foreign tourists in 10 months

Tanzania recorded a 64 percent rise in the number of foreign tourists that visited the east African nation between January and October this year, an official said on Tuesday.

Daniel Masolwa, director of economic statistics with the National Bureau of Statistics, said 1,175,697 foreign tourists visited the country between January and October this year, compared to 716,741 tourists during the same period in 2021.

“The number of tourists increased by 458,956, which was equivalent to an increase of 64 percent,” Masolwa told a news conference in the capital Dodoma.

Masolwa attributed the surge in foreign tourist arrivals to efforts by the government aimed at revitalizing the tourism industry after it was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added that the Royal Tour documentary, which was part of the campaign to promote Tanzania as a preferred tourist destination launched by President Samia Suluhu Hassan in 2021, also played a major role in boosting the country’s foreign tourist arrivals.

Masolwa also said most tourists were from France, Britain, Germany, Italy, the United States, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi, and South Africa.