In line with the recently launched Tanzanian International Tourism Marketing Strategy, a visiting team of journalists from South Africa and United Arab Emirates (UAE) have spent a few days in the Selous game reserve in Tanzania.
Journalists from the UAE are expected to also tour Zanzibar and visit Dar es Salaam.
Inviting public and private owned media representatives from various countries is part of the recent fiver year tourism development plan outlined in the Tanzanian International Tourism Marketing Strategy, which aims to promote Tanzania globally and increase Tanzanian popularity among tourists.
The International Tourism Marketing Strategy was developed during a year and a half of negotiations with all stake holders in the industry and was approved in 2013.
The Strategy includes advertising tour attractions to other countries with a special focus on primary markets of United Kingdom, USA, Germany, and Italy, as well as secondary markets such as France, Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Spain, and tertiary markets like South Africa and India.
According to the Tanzanian Tourist Board (TTB) Marketing Manager Godfrey Meena the strategy is supposed to double the number of tourists visiting Tanzania.
Tanzania reached its milestone tourist visits record of over 1 million in 2012 from 867 000 in 2011.
According to Tanzania Ministery of Natural Resources and Tourism, the country forecasts to attract 1.6 million tourists by 2015.