Israelis begin Tanzania exodus

ARRIVALS: The Israelis were destined to visit the Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara and Serengeti National Parks, in northern Tanzania and by December some 2500 will have be expected to eventually touch down at KIA.

ARUSHA, Tanzania - The roll-out of weekly flights by El Al, the Israeli national carrier, has started in earnest with 170 tourists arriving in Arusha recently for a nine-day safari.

The tourists were destined to visit the Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara and Serengeti National Parks, in northern Tanzania. 

They were also expected to visit Zanzibar where they will spend three days.

Ronit Hershkovitz, the Managing Director of the Menelik Safari Company, who are working closely with the Israeli airline, said weekly flights will continue throughout April, May, June, July, August, September and December. 

About 2500 tourists are due to visit Tanzania’s most notable tourist spots.

Speaking at Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA), Hershkovitz  said their company has done intensive tourism promotion campaigns. 

As a result more tourists from Israel are choosing to visit Tanzania, and attractions are becoming popular in Israel, suggesting a likely increase in tourist numbers.

El Al Israel flights that fly into Africa only land in Mainland Tanzania at KIA nearly 48 kilometres from Arusha and Zanzibar.

The weekly flights are set to increase and stimulate additional tourist numbers in Tanzania tourism. 

According to the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), Tanzania’s tourism is ranked higher because it is offering a tourism experience based on nature safari.

In its latest monthly economic review, BoT indicated that tourism emerged the top foreign exchange earner last year (2013) and basing on these figures, the sector has more potential to maximize in 2014.

The Central Bank said tourism had maintained growth to become the leading earner of hard currency overtaking gold, whose performance was undermined by low output and a decline in global price. According to the report, foreign exchange earnings from tourism for 2013 were $1.88 billion, up from $1.7 billion in 2012 and $1.35 billion in 2011.

This comes at a time when various international surveys reveal that Tanzania ranks highly in ‘search engine appeal’ in the fields of tourism and investment, making the country more likely to attract tourists and international investors in 2014.

That said, well conceived and articulated, but realistic tourism policy objectives, local involvement and control over tourism development, forging private, public sector partnerships for tourism development, promoting regional tourism co-operation and integration and allocation of appropriate resources, are critical components in the success of Tanzania tourism development.

In all this, analysts say the tourism sector holds great potential because of the government’s resolve to diversify the source market to focus into the Middle East, China, as well as traditional markets such the US, UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain, among others, including ambitious strategies to improve transportation

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