- Tanzania’s tourism industry is staging a comeback, with earnings surging from $1.95 billion in July 2022 to $2.99 billion in July 2023.
- Tourist arrivals increased by 37.2%, reaching a record 1,658,043 visitors.
- Europe and the United States remain primary sources of tourists visiting Tanzania for leisure and holidays.
Tanzania’s tourism industry is making a remarkable comeback nearly four years after its revenues plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The recent data from the Bank of Tanzania reveals that tourism has staged an impressive recovery, contributing $2.99 billion to foreign exchange earnings in July 2023, compared to $1.95 billion in July 2022.
According to the Bank of Tanzania, this represents a 33% surge in service receipts, reaching $5.49 billion in July 2023, up from $4.12 billion in July 2022.
The bank also noted that this resurgence in tourism and increased earnings from gold have played a pivotal role in boosting Tanzania’s service earnings to over $5 billion for the first time in its history.
In 2019, Tanzania’s tourism sector generated approximately $2.52 billion, but by December 2020, its earnings had dropped significantly to just $1 billion.
Gold emerged as the country’s primary foreign exchange earner during this period, generating $2.958 billion in December 2020.
The recovery in the tourism sector is highlighted by a 37.2% increase in foreign arrivals, totalling 1,658,043 visitors during the year—reaching an all-time high.
The previous record for tourism earnings in Tanzania was $2.5 billion, achieved in 2019 when the country welcomed 1,527,230 tourists.
Europe and the United States remain primary sources of tourists visiting Tanzania for leisure and holidays, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Source: Business Insider Africa
