Tanzania Mainland recorded 794,102 tourist arrivals in the period January to May 2025, representing an increase of 3.7% compared to 766,096 arrivals during the same period in 2024, according to the latest High Frequency Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The figure marks the highest level of tourist arrivals recorded for any January–May period since 2015 and is 54.3% higher than the same period in 2019 (pre-Covid pandemic), which registered 514,663 arrivals.
They highlight a recovery from the 2020–2021 downturn, with arrivals at 349,103 in 2020 and 317,270 in 2021, followed by continued growth in 2022 (458,048), 2023 (612,431), and 2024 (766,096), reaching a total of 794,102 by 2025.
Monthly data for 2025 shows that tourist arrivals were 195,487 in January, 190,313 in February, 140,597 in March, 130,340 in April, and 137,365 in May.
In comparison, monthly arrivals in 2024 were 180,422 in January, 184,092 in February, 155,810 in March, 116,280 in April, and 129,492 in May.
Burundi led in arrivals during January 2025 with 18,404 tourists. Kenya was the leading monthly source market in the remaining four months: February (17,944), March (15,358), April (22,107), and May (19,504).
The top ten source markets for January–May 2025 were:
- Kenya – 93,112 (11.7% or all arrivals)
- Burundi – 65,874 (8.3%)
- United States – 42,478 (5.3%)
- France – 38,255 (4.8%)
- Italy – 37,238 (4.7%)
- Germany – 35,626 (4.5%)
- Zambia – 32,801 (4.1%)
- Democratic Republic of the Congo – 32,246 (4.1%)
- China – 29,268 (3.7%)
- United Kingdom – 24,968 (3.1%)
