Tanzania is seeking to expand its tourism market across Africa as the government explores new strategies to attract more visitors from the continent.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr Hassan Abbasi, held talks in Dodoma on Wednesday with the Chief Operating Officer of the African Tourism Board, Nancy Abdelhadi, to discuss opportunities for expanding Tanzania’s tourism sector.
The meeting was also attended by the acting Chief Executive Officer of the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB), Dr Theresa Mugobi, and Ms Abdelhadi, who is also the founding director of IBIS ME.
The discussions focused on strategies to widen Tanzania’s tourism markets in different African countries and strengthen cooperation with key markets on the continent.
Egypt was identified as one of the important markets where Tanzania could increase efforts to promote its tourism attractions and encourage more visitors to the country.
The meeting also explored ways of increasing awareness of Tanzania’s tourism products among African travellers, as the country seeks to diversify its source markets beyond traditional international destinations.
Tanzania is home to major tourism attractions, including the Serengeti National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Zanzibar’s beaches, which attract visitors from across the world.
The government has increasingly been seeking to position Africa itself as an important source of tourists, with greater regional tourism cooperation seen as a way of expanding the sector and increasing its contribution to the economy.
The engagement with the African Tourism Board is part of efforts to strengthen partnerships and open new opportunities for Tanzania’s tourism industry across the continent.