In 2013, a total of 1,135,884 tourists visited Tanzania, bringing earnings from the Tanzania tourism sector to an historical high of USD 1.8 billion.
In an effort to open international tourism markets, the Tanzania Tourism Board (TTB) recently launched the first Swahili International Tourism Expo (SITE).
According to Devota Mdachi, Managing Director of the TTB, the launch of SITE will facilitate the continued efforts to promote Tanzania as a preferred tourist destination and will help to connect Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises (SME’s) with the international Tourism market.
“Many Tanzanian tourism agencies are small-scale enterprises, which have limited capital and ability to access to international tourism markets,” said Mdachi who went on to indicate that SITE will help address this challenge.
Speaking at the International Tourism Fair, Tanzania Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Lazaro Nyalandu, indicated that, between 2002 and 2013, Tanzania registered a 50% growth in international arrivals.
“Tourism is one of the few economic sectors in Tanzania growing strongly, while driving economic progress in our country,” he said, “It is important that we work harder than ever to capitalize on the ‘top of mind’ awareness that our previous efforts have generated for the country. As a nation, we need to make concerted efforts on strategies to promote our attractions.”
