Looking to attract 3 million tourists in the next 2 years, Tanzania has switched its marketing plans to focus at new emerging market sources in Southeast Asia, the Pacific Rim, and South America.
Under tourism marketing coordination by the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB), Tanzania is looking to raise the current number of tourists from 1.14 million to 3 million visitors in 2018 through a newly-designed international marketing drive.
TTB Chairman of the Board of Directors, Justice Thomas Mihayo, said his institution has targeted to attract tourists from emerging new markets from China, India, Russia, Turkey, Brazil, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Tanzania had once mainly depended on European and American markets, but Justice Mihayo said the new strategy would be to intensify marketing campaigns starting this year, looking to tap emerging new tourist sources in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific Rim.
The Tourist Board is implementing the International Tourism Marketing Strategy, a document that was compiled and launched 5 years ago, aiming to market Tanzania tourism at a global level through a public and private partnership initiative.
Leveraging on this new marketing strategy and other national initiatives, it is estimated that the number of tourist arrivals will reach 2 million by the close of 2017, increasing the revenue from the current US$1.35 billion to about US$2 billion, then raising the number of tourists to 3 million in 2018 and increasing tourist income to US$4 billion.
TTB Managing Director Devota Mdachi said that her institution has teamed up with other tourist marketing and development partners to ensure that Tanzania achieves the 3 million tourist arrival target by the close of 2018.
She said strategies to market Tanzania tourism abroad as stipulated in the 5-year plan involved huge amounts of money.
“The International Market Strategy, spanning from 2012 to 2017, wants us to establish offices in our major markets and have representatives there, but as we are talking we have been forced to close our office in the US because of [a] limited budget,” she said.
Tourism is Tanzania’s leading foreign exchange earner, generating about $2 billion per year and contributing 17 percent of Tanzania’s annual income. That’s more than what gold or manufacturing brings in. It is also estimated to provide 500,000 jobs.
Through implementation of this strategy, 12 strategic goals have been focused and targeted, all aimed at raising Tanzania’s current position on the world tourism map, from the 90th position to the 75th position.
In market share, the strategy is also looking at increasing Tanzania’s tourism market share in 2017 from the current 11 percent to at least 14 percent of the total number of tourist arrivals in Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, and Botswana which are key competitors, from the 4 primary source markets of the United Kingdom (UK), Italy, Germany, and the United States.
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