Tanzania Tourist Arrivals Down 51% in March 2020

The latest Bank of Tanzania (BOT) Monthly Economic Review of April 2020 shows that in the year ending March 2020, exports of goods and services amounted to USD 9,951.1 million in the year ending March 2020 compared with USD 8,747.1 million in March 2019, largely owing to an increase in exports of traditional crops.

Traditional goods export rose significantly to USD 1,017.3 million in the year ending March 2020 from USD 569.2 million in the corresponding period in 2019, as all traditional goods exports increased except coffee, tea, and tobacco.

Cashew nuts and sisal exports rose on account of both volume and price effects. The increase in the export of cotton and cloves was in volume, driven by good weather.

Export of coffee, tea, and tobacco decreased on account of both volume and price effects.

On a month-to-month basis, traditional exports amounted to USD 64.3 million in March 2020 compared with USD 30.3 million in February 2019.

Conversely, traditional exports were lower compared to USD 92.7 million in February 2020 associated with seasonality factors.

Exports of non-traditional goods amounted to USD 4,170.8 million in the year ending March 2020 compared with USD 3,607.5 million in the corresponding period in 2019.

All major categories of non-traditional export increased, except manufactured goods, and fish and fish products.

Gold, which accounted for 55.7% of nontraditional exports, increased by 37.9% to USD 2,324.0 million, driven by volume and price.

On a month-to-month basis, non-traditional export of goods amounted to USD 331.4 million in March 2020 compared with USD 275.8 million in March 2019 and USD 299.0 million in February 2020, reflecting resilience to COVID-19 related challenges.

Service receipts amounted to USD 4,4244.2 million in the year ending March 2020, higher than USD 4,090.9 million in the year ending March 2019, owing to an increase in travel receipts.

Travel receipts, which is mainly tourism, rose by 3.1% to USD 2,591.4 million in the year ending March 2020, on account of an increased number of tourist arrivals to 1,507,382 from 1,480,095 in the corresponding period in 2019.

However, on a monthly basis travel receipts dropped to USD 106.6 million in March 2020 from USD 236.6 million in February 2020 and USD 186.8 million in March 2019.

Tourist arrivals decreased to 66,650 from 137,199 in February 2020 and 108,323 in March 2019, owing to suspension of international flights and lockdowns to counter the spread of COVID-19.