On 9th November 2020, the Serengeti park in Tanzania won for the second consecutive year the World Travel Awards for Africa’s Leading National Park category.
Serengeti was also voted Africa’s best safari destination in a survey conducted by SafariBookings.com in 2020.
Other Tanzanian winners this year include the Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti in Africa’s Leading Luxury Safari Lodge category, the Thanda Island in Africa’s Leading Luxury Island category, and the Port of Dar es Salaam in Africa’s Leading Cruise Port category.
The World Travel Awards was established in 1993 to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the tourism industry.
Founder Graham Cooke commented: “The World Travel Awards 2020 program received a record number of votes cast by the public. This shows that the appetite for travel and tourism has never been stronger and bodes well for the industry’s future as the global recovery begins.”
The Tanzanian tourism sector was severely hit in 2020 after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the suspension of international flights from America, Europe and Asia.
According to Hamisi Kigwangalla, Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, the number of tourists visiting the country dropped from an estimated 1,867,000 to 437,000 annually.
However, Tanzania reopened its airspace for international passenger flights on 1st June 2020, and international airlines are now flying to and from Tanzania.
Data from the Tanzania National Parks Authority (Tanapa) shows that a total of 3,062 French tourists visited the Tanzanian parks during the three months period covering July, August, and September 2020, outshining the US with 2,327 holidaymakers.
The third source markets of tourists were Germany (1,317 visitors), followed by the UK (1,051 visitors), Spain (1,050 visitors), India 844 (visitors), Switzerland (727 visitors), Russia (669 visitors), the Netherlands (431 visitors), and Australia (367 visitors).
