TTB targets tourists from West Africa to diversify source markets

Tanzania's abundant tourism attractions will now feature on Wakanow.com, which is a Nigerian travel booking portal, as part of the drive to diversify source markets of holidaymakers visiting the country.
The new marketing initiative follows signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) and representatives of the travel trade website. 
TTB’s Acting Managing Director Devotha Mdachi said on Friday that the MoU to promote destination Tanzania in Nigeria and West Africa was signed in Dar es Salaam last month.
She said the agreement also seeks to promote regional tourism as Tanzania strives to become the preferred destination in the region and the whole of Africa. 
Currently most tourists visiting the country come from Europe and the US. TTB’s market diversification efforts have already had impact in Asia where Tanzania is now attracting more visitors especially from Japan and China.
Mdachi told The Guardian last week that during the implementation of the MoU, Wakanow.com will feature Tanzania’s attractions on its website and air them on DSTV- Ebony TV Channel travel show.
Tanzania is expected to feature in the show this December.
“Before we signed the MoU, Wakanow.com officials were in the country to explore and understand Tanzania’s tourism potential and attractions so that we can work together to promote them in Nigeria and other parts of the world,” she said.
Presently tourism is one of Tanzania’s fastest growing economic sectors that account for 17.5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). 
Last year, the country hosted about 1.14 million holidaymakers and business travellers, who earned the economy nearly US$1.9 billion. 
The sector directly employs close to half a million people and contributes to almost 25 per cent of total export earnings. According to Bank of Tanzania (BoT) figures, tourism has overtaken gold as the country’s leading foreign exchange earner. 
The central bank’s latest monthly economic review (MER) shows that forex earnings from travel trade increased from US$1.75 billion in the year ending June 2013 to US$1.97 during the corresponding period in 2014.
During the same period this year, the sector garnered US$2.19 billion. On the other hand, forex earnings from gold have dwindled during the three-year period.
The July 2015 MER shows that gold fetched US$1.89 billion in the year ending June 2013 but raked in US$1.47 billion during the same period in 2014. During the year ending June 2015, foreign exchange earnings from gold exports slumped to US$1.22 billion.
Ms Mdachi is upbeat about the future. She says TTB’s international tourism promotional campaign is paying off well as the country is experiencing more tourist arrivals compared to the past.
In the five-year tourism marketing blueprint rolled out in 2013, Tanzania expects to host two million tourists by 2017. The target is to boost forex income by doubling revenue from the current level of US$2 billion per annum.
The anticipated growth has led to increased demand for hotel capacity and calls for more flights to the country.
Tanzania’s famous attractions include Mt. Kilimanjaro, Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater as well as the saline beaches of Zanzibar. 
Currently the country focuses on wildlife conservation and sustainable tourism, with about 28 per cent of the land being protected by the government, which is the largest percentage of any country in the world.
The World Bank has it that tourism in Tanzania has potential for growth to not only boost foreign exchange earnings but also create more jobs. 
In its January 2015 Tanzania Economic Update, the bank says the sector is central to the country’s drive toward economic emergence.
“Riding on the country’s bountiful natural assets, tourism is a fast-growing sector that is not only providing jobs but is also bringing in much-needed foreign currency,” the update reads in part.
The Tanzania National Business Council has prioritized the industry as one of the growth sectors and a major source of jobs.
To increase travel trade’s benefits to the economy and the public, the Bretton Woods institution proposes diversification of tourism activities from the current emphasis on high-end tourism to include more modest travel budgets, local holidaymakers and regional visitors.
The other recommendations are to further integrate local communities and small operators into tourism activities, through benefit-sharing processes; and, revisiting the current complex system of taxes and fees, and the non-transparent use of revenues collected from tourists.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN


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