The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation of Tanzania issued a press release on 21st November 2018, informing that the country won the Award for the “Best Destination to the World” in the Category of Exotic Destination 2018 at the Russian National Geographical Traveler Award.
The Ambassador of Tanzania to Russia, His Excellency Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Simon Mumwi on behalf of the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania will be receiving the Award at the ceremony scheduled to be held in Moscow.
Tanzania won the Award after online voting conducted by the Russian version of National Geographic Magazine that involved 263,000 online readers.
Tanzania is winning this Award for the third time since 2011 where Zanzibar was chosen as the Best Beach Tourist Destination in Africa and therefore awarded the Star Travel Award.
In 2017, Tanzania also received a National Geographic Travel Award as the second best destination in the world in the category of exotic destination.
These achievements reflect the efforts made by the Government of Tanzania through its Embassy in Russia, the Ministries of Tourism and Natural Resources both in Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar and other Institutions in the tourism industry, the press release reads.
Through these efforts, the volume of Russian tourists visiting Tanzania has been increasing. For instance; in 2017, 10,060 tourists from Russia visited Tanzania compared to only 4,021 tourists in 2012.
More concerted efforts will be made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other stakeholders to promote Tanzania as the best tourist destination in the world and looking forward to seeing more Russian tourists choosing Tanzania as their best destination for tourism, the statement concludes.
Tanzania Tourism
The direct and indirect contribution of tourism was 14% of Tanzania’s GDP in 2014 with USD 6.7bn.
International tourist arrivals in Tanzania rose by 90% during the period 2006–2014, from 622,000 to 1.1m.
Tanzania is the 7th most visited country in Sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa (9.5m), Zimbabwe (1.9m), Mozambique (1.7m), Uganda (1.27m), Kenya (1.26m), and Namibia (1.2m).
