Tanzania tourists board (TTB) has said that it is targeting 3 million foreign tourists in the next 2 years. Currently about 1.1 million tourists visit the country ever year and the country’s top tourism agency is targeting another 400,000 more tourists per year to reach its ambitious target.
Tourism is the leading foreign exchange earner in the east African country, generating about $2 billion per year and contributing 17 per cent of Tanzania’s annual income.
Lion killing a Zebra in Tanzanian game park (Photo: Tanzania lodge)
The chairman of TTB Thomas Mihayo said that the agency is seeking to attract tourists from countries whose citizens in the past did not fancy touring in Tanzania.Those who have been visiting Tanzania are mostly for Europe and USA.
We are attracting tourists from China, India, Russia, Turkey, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates”, he said.
Mihayo assumes that if all goes as planned the number of tourist arrivals will reach two million by the close of 2017, increasing the revenue from the current $1.35 billion to about $2 billion, then raise the number of tourists to three million in 2018 and increase tourist income to $4 billion.
The managing director of TTB Devota Mdachi has said that in order to implement the plan new offices will need to be established in major markets around the world.
Godfrey Olukya
