More Americans Visiting Tanzania

More Americans are putting Tanzania on their ‘bucket list’ as tourism from the United States continues to grow.

Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) announced a 7% increase in visitors from the US (up from 65,110 in 2012 to 69,671 in 2013), making the USA Tanzania’s second largest tourism source market worldwide.

The North American market as a whole (Canada, Mexico, United States) showed an increase of 7.3% (From 84,639 in 2012 to 90,819 in 2013).

Tanzania has showed a steady increase of visitors worldwide over the past five years, having reached its benchmark of 1,000,000 visitors in 2012 for the first time since records have been kept.

Tanzania’s Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Lazaro S. Nyalandu, MP, said, “The increase in tourism is due to several factors; the increased airlift from the US, the greatly improved infrastructure, and Tanzania’s new luxury accommodations which have attracted a growing number of celebrities and Hollywood A-listers like Oprah Winfrey, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie.”

The success of TTB’s recent marketing efforts worldwide is demonstrated in the 1.73% increase of overall visitors (from 1,077,058 in 2012 to 1,095,884 people in 2013). This is also due to the fact that Tanzania, in addition to having three of Africa’s natural wonders of the world, is viewed as a peaceful and stable destination, rich in history and cultural diversity.

Devota Mdachi, TTB’s Acting Managing Director, said, “The rapidly expanding infrastructure development, including luxury accommodations and increased airlift, now enables tourists to combine both a visit to the South to discover Tanzania’s hidden gems, Ruaha National Park and the Selous Game Reserve and to the North to visit the iconic Serengeti, Kilimanjaro and Ngorongoro Crater. Fast Jet, recently inaugurated service in Tanzania and connects Dar es Salaam to Mwanza on Lake Victoria and new airports have opened in Songwe in the South and Mpanda in Western Tanzania.”