Artists perform a traditional dance from Rwanda at the opening ceremony of the 7th Swahili International Tourism Expo in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Oct. 6, 2023. (Photo by Emmanuel Herman/Xinhua)
Tanzania recorded 231,104 more foreign tourist arrivals in the first eight months of this year, or up 25.7 percent, compared to the number registered in this regard for a similar period last year.
DAR ES SALAAM, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania recorded 231,104 more foreign tourist arrivals in the first eight months of this year, or up 25.7 percent, compared to the number registered in this regard for a similar period last year.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday the number of foreign tourist arrivals into the country from January to August increased to 1,131,286, compared to 900,182 for the corresponding period last year.
Daniel Msolwa, the NBS acting director of Economic Statistics, said the tourism sector was fast growing and was among the major sources of foreign exchange in Tanzania. Like in other countries across the world, the tourism industry of Tanzania was largely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic after international travel was halted, he said.
This photo taken on Sept. 22, 2023 shows the city view in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)
Msolwa urged service providers to offer quality services to attract more visitors, not only first-time arrivals but also maintaining repeat arrivals.
While addressing the opening session of the 7th Swahili International Tourism Expo in the port city of Dar es Salaam, the commercial hub of Tanzania, Friday, Thereza Mugobi, director of tourism in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, said that Tanzania had identified China, Russia, and India as Tanzania's new strategic tourism markets, aiming to meet the country's target of attracting 5 million international tourist arrivals by 2025. The expo attracted over 150 exhibitors and over 100 international buyers from more than 20 countries worldwide. ■
