Tanzania has set itself the goal of attracting at least a million tourists from next year, but one thing that has apparently been overlooked is the potential of urban tourism.

With the possible exception of Zanzibar, urban tourism is virtually non-existent in Tanzania, and this is in stark contrast to other African countries with which Tanzania competes for foreign tourists.

Now that we have set ourselves a lofty goal, it's time we diversified our tourist attractions to include sites in urban areas such as Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Arusha and elsewhere.

It is generally agreed that Tanzania has the best national parks and game reserves in this part of Africa, not to mention other world-renowned attractions such as Mount Kilimanjaro and the sandy beaches of Zanzibar.

However, these need to be supplemented with attractions in urban areas that have hitherto not been exploited. In Dar es Salaam, for example, there are many places that tourists visiting the country for the first time would like to see.

These include the port, State House and historical sites such as Karimjee Hall, Uhuru Stadium and the house in Magomeni that Tanzania's founding President, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, used to live in during the 1950s.

In Arusha, there is the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Arusha Declaration Monument, to mention but a few overlooked tourist attractions in the town that former US President Bill Clinton dubbed "the Geneva of Africa".

South Africa has used urban tourism to great effect in recent years, and the cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth are in themselves important tourist attractions in that country. Even neighbouring Kenya turned to urban tourism, and it's time that we followed suit if we are really intent on not being left behind.

The need to explore all options in Tanzania's quest to attract at least a million tourists annually cannot be overstated, particularly at this time when the world is going through its worst economic crisis in 70 years.