International arrivals surge by 20 per cent

DODOMA: THE National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has released new figures of the number of international arrivals indicating that between January and September 2024, the number increased to 1,560,641 compared to 1,299,994 recorded during the corresponding period in 2023.

The number shows a steady increase of over 260,000 tourists, equivalent to 20 per cent, according to NBS’s Director of Economic Statistics, Daniel Masolwa.

In 2022, the number of international arrivals was 900,182 while in 2021 the country received 624,396 international arrivals.

Addressing a media conference in Dodoma yesterday, Mr Masolwa attributed an increase with the government’s efforts to market the country’s tourist destinations, including the Royal Tour film and Amazing Tanzania respectively.

Statistics by nationality show that the United States tops in the list of international arrivals with 112,579 tourists, followed by France (72,009), Germany (57,798), United Kingdom (51,505) and Italy 51,056.

During the period under review, international arrivals from Africa show that Kenya is leading with 156,674 followed by Burundi (153,497), DRC (49,599), Zambia (46,599) and Rwanda (45,810). Tanzania envisions to increase the number of tourists to five million per annum by the year 2025, and it also targets to collect 6 billion US dollars (about 13.8tri/-) in revenues from the tourism sector.

At a news conference yesterday, Mr Masolwa said that since President Samia Suluhu Hassan assumed office of the Presidency in 2021, Tanzania has experienced a continuous surge of arrivals between January 2021 and September 2024.

“Figures show that the number of international arrivals increased from 624,396 in 2021 to 1,560,641 in 2024, which is an increment of more than two and a half folds of arrivals in comparison to arrivals observed in 2021,’’ he noted.

He added: “This surge is on account of aggressive marketing of tourism attractions, including documentaries such as Tanzania the Royal Tour and Amazing Tanzania launched during the Sixth Phase government.’’

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During the period of January to September 2024, Mr Masolwa added, most high-frequency indicators in Tanzania showed an expansionary outcome. Among them, he said, include electricity generation and communication services.

According to him, between January and September 2024, electricity generation increased to 8.5 billion kWh up from 7.5 billion kWh attained during the corresponding period in 2023, which is an increase of 893.2 million kWh, equivalent to 118 percent.

“During the period under review, Natural Gas accounted for the largest share of electricity by source of generation with 51.8 percent, followed by hydro with 46.9percent and thermos with 1.2percent.

Tourism sector contributes 25 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is also a source of foreign currency and employment.

The main tourism attraction is the presence of a variety of wild animals especially lions, hyena, elephant, rhino, buffalo which are not found in other African countries.