Full of wonder and harbouring a diversity of an unparalleled fauna and flora, Tanzania remains a unique destination on the African continent yet to be discovered by foreigners.
Kilimanjaro, the highest permanently snow-capped free standing mountain in Africa, the exotic Islands of Zanzibar, the finest game sanctuaries of Serengeti, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, Ruaha, Selous and the Marine Park of Mafia Island are only but a few of the living examples.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT) has recently announced that it is seeking to foster investments in the country's hospitality industry to boost the tourism sector competitiveness among the main international destinations.
According to Permanent Secretary to the ministry, Dr Adelhelm Meru, the country needs more investments in five-star hotels to raise its competitiveness and match the growth in branded rooms' availability with the growth in international visitors.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEFORUM), Tanzania ranks 93rd out of 141 world's tourist destinations rich in natural resources. In addition, the country ranks 5th among African countries with the highest growth in the hospitality industry with an average rate of 6.3 per cent per annum in the last six years.
The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) Monthly Economic Review for February 2016 recently published shows that the value of export of goods and services in the year ending January 2016 increased by 8.6 per cent reaching USD 9,558.7 million, compared with USD 8,795.1 million in the year ending January 2015. BoT explained that the improvement was mainly driven by an increase in travel (tourism) receipts and exports of manufactured goods.
Travel maintained the leading position among foreign currency earners, before manufactured goods, gold and traditional exports, with USD 2,262.6 million worth of exports in the year ending January 2016, showing a year-on-year increase of 9.5 per cent.
The minister for Tourism and Natural Resources Prof Jumanne Maghembe, announced in Dar es Salaam recently that an increase in the tourism sector's budget would be made in 2016 aiming at creating new products and attracting more tourists to the country to boost the sector's economic contribution.
Prof Maghembe made the remark shortly after his appointment as the new Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, a position in which he had served from 2006 to 2008 before he became Minister of Water and Irrigation from February, 2012, to November, 2015.
The project is focused on four priority areas of the Ruaha National Park, Udzungwa Mountain National Park, Mikumi National Park, Selous game reserve and includes communities around them that could benefit from tourism economic activities.
The project is also part of WB's plan to help Tanzania to reach the 8 million visitors a year by 2025 up from above 1 million in 2014 that is focused on diversification of geographic locations and tourism segments, integration of tourism activities at existing attractions and improvement in the quality of governance in the tourism sector.
The announcement was made by Tanzania's Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism Mr Ramo Makani, who in a recent meeting with lawmakers explained that the project implementation would start next year when improvement in tourism infrastructure as roads, airports and accommodations is undertaken.
The project will also enable the government to work on the development of a new tourism circuit in the southern region and upgrade of the Tunduma- Sumbawanga-Mpanda road to allow visitors to visit more than one site connecting the country's southern and western regions, explain Mr Makani.
According to the WB, USD 2.5 million has already been released to facilitate the project's preparation and finance consulting services that will provide concrete recommendations on how to strengthen tourism products in the four key areas.
The tourism sector is a key sector of the Tanzanian economy, contributing 17 per cent to the country's GDP and accounting for 25 per cent of all the foreign exchange earnings, with USD 2 billion in revenues in 2014.
"A major budget would enable the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) to design new products and adopt more innovative strategies to be more competitive in the international marketplace, Prof Maghembe explained. "It would help to attract up to 3 million international visitors in 2018 and double the sector's contribution to GDP from the current USD 2 billion to USD 4 million in the same period," the minister added.
To reach this goal, Tanzania mainly aims at the US as one of its most important markets, reason why former President Jakaya Kikwete started in September, 2015, the campaign "Tanzania, the Soul of Africa" to brand the country through broadcasts in CNN and BBC, Prof Maghembe stressed.
Launched in September 2015 the campaign "Tanzania, the Soul of Africa" is compounded by three elements: the Tanzania tourism app, the tourism destination portal and the 30 seconds TV advert that started to be aired in October, 2015.
The tourism sector in the country has been recently awarded with a USD 100 million loan from the International Development Association (IDA) from the World Bank (WB) group, for the implementation of the Tanzania Resilient Natural Resources Management for Growth Project that aims at strengthening the country's tourism products and value chain.
According to the PS, Dr Meru, the tourism sector plays a significant role in Tanzania's economy giving an example in 2014 alone tourism generated around USD 2 billion which constitutes 25 per cent of Tanzania's foreign exchange earnings.
It is at the forefront of the contribution to the country's economy representing 17 per cent of Tanzania's GDP in 2014 and directly employs around 600,000 people and up to 2 million people indirectly. Tanzania received a record 1.1 million international visitor arrivals in 2014, mostly from Europe, the US and Africa, versus 582,807 in 2004, increasing at a rate of around 10 per cent per annum.
This is also the result of the government strategies and policies introduced in the last 20 years to improve and develop the country's tourism sector, establish the country as a prime safari and beach destination in Africa and raise the sector's contribution to the country's economy. In the Sub-Saharan region, Tanzania ranks 12th with Seychelles leading the group with a punctuation of 4.51.
Tanzania also ranks 82nd out of 184 countries in terms of travel and tourism sector size according to WTTC, and ranks 9th in terms of the sector's long-term growth. By 2025, Tanzania's tourism sector is expected to grow at a rate of 6.2 per cent per annum, against an expected world average growth of 3.7 per cent according to WTTC.
Prior to his election and during last year's presidential general elections, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) presidential candidate, Dr John Pombe Magufuli promised that if elected he would give first priority to the nation's tourism sector to spur development of the national economy and eradicate unemployment.
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