There’s always something good going on when it comes to East Africa tourism news. Take a look at what’s been going on recently in the region…
Tanzania Shines as Tourists Flock on The Wings of Abercrombie & Kent
Two million. That’s the number of tourists expected to visit the Tanzania’s attractions by the end of 2014 according to Natural resources and Tourism Minister Lazaro Nyalandu. His remarks, made at a ceremony, organized by the Tanzania Tourist Board and Abercrombie & Kent, in Arusha recently came as part of a farewell bid to a group of 42 wealthy Americans who had recently spent 19 days touring Africa on a private Abercrombie jet. A previous group who had traveled through Africa just a few week earlier, traveled through Tanzania, Uganda and other popular regions.
Geoffrey Kent, CEO of Abercrombie & Kent solidified his company’s dedication to promoting Tanzania tourism – in particular, the Serengeti – the second-largest park in Tanzania. Abercrombie & Kent has been very influential in getting high-spending tourists into African hot-spots including Tanzania. The company is famous for delivering inspiring experiences in Africa, and around the world, thanks to its global network reach.
Uganda Among the top Five African Exhibitors at ITB Berlin Exhibition
At 120 square-meters, Uganda’s stall at ITB Berlin was the largest it has ever had and it showed – drawing roughly the same number of walk-in visitors as Kenya’s booth which was of equal size. The exhibition space was home to several private tourism operators and a documentary of Uganda’s one-of-a-kind tourism story. The event was a chance to showcase Uganda and show the world that the country is poised for tourism prosperity right now – and if the funding becomes available from governmental sources, the country is poised for even greater success. UTB board chairman James Tumusiime said the next logical step for Uganda is to improve its foreign missions as many of the wealthiest tourism spenders come from Europe and the Americas.
East African Common Tourist Visa Still Proving Itself as a Positive Effort
Part of the reason East Africa is expecting positive tourism numbers this year is the continued popularity of the East African Common Tourist Visa. It’s allowing tourists seamless travel through the member nations – an access to more of what this part of the continent has to offer.
Selling Tourism to the World’s Second-Largest Economy Pays off for Tanzania
The number of Chinese tourists to Tanzania in 2012 was measured at around 5,000, but with recent efforts to market Tanzania as a tourism destination to the Chinese brought those numbers up – nearly tripling them, in fact, to 13,000 last year.
Ambassador to China, Lt Gen. (retired) Abdulrahaman Shimbo spoke with regional media recently and said that Chinese tourists making their way to Tanzania are rising in number and will continue to do so though 2014.
Shimbo noted that Tanzania’s tourism policy if focused on quality and a responsible use of lands and resources. He added that careful development of the tourism industry will ensure a bright future and an abundance on natural attractions.
The ambassador said the challenge for attracting Chinese tourists to Tanzania has very little to do with the attractions the nation offers, but that it is the lack of direct air routes between the two countries and the hospitality industry’s infrastructure that hinders greater growth. To that end, work is being done to encourage Chinese air carries to add direct routes to Tanzania.
East Africa Tourism – Successful and Poised for the Future
As usual, East Africa tourism is poised for success. We have support for the industry at every level and, as you can see, it’s paying off. Making the region attractive and accessible to visitors from around the world, is working and, while we still have plenty of work to do, the are plenty of reasons to see why the region is truly one of the greatest in all of Africa.
