TANZANIA is one of the tourist hotspots of the African continent and world at large.
Tourism is the act and process of spending time away from home in pursuit of recreation, relaxation, and pleasure, while making use of the commercial provision of services.
As such, tourism is a product of modern social arrangements, beginning in western Europe in the 17th century, although it has antecedents in classical antiquity.
In Tanzania, the sector is among those earning the government more forex, as official reports emerge that the country has recorded a massive increase of both domestic and foreign tourists in a period of one year.
This did not happen just as a lucky encounter, but it is due to numerous efforts undertaken by the government, including the President, Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan, to market tourism in and outside the country.
The number of tourists who visited national parks and the national museum increased from 1,711,625 tourists in 2021 to 3,818,180 tourists in 2022 which is equivalent to a 123 per cent increase.
The number of foreign visitors increased from 922,692 in 2021 to 1,454,920 tourists in 2022 equivalent to a 57.7 per cent increase. On the other hand, the number of domestic tourists also increased from 788,933 in 2021 to 2,363,260 tourists in 2022, which is equivalent to a 199.5 per cent rise.
Tourism is distinguished from exploration in that tourists follow a beaten path, benefit from established systems of provision, and, as befits pleasure-seekers, are generally insulated from difficulty, danger, and embarrassment.
Tourism, however, overlaps with other activities, interests, and processes, including, for example, pilgrimage. This gives rise to shared categories, such as business tourism, sports tourism, and medical tourism, the latter being international travel undertaken for the purpose of receiving medical care.
Tanzania boasts of having places for all the mentioned categories and many more others, hence attract a lot of people from within the African continent and from abroad - the other continents.
One of remarkable things done by President Samia was to feature in the Royal Tour showcasing a handful of thrilling destinations where visitors can plan trips.
Tanzania is an extremely best tourist destination in the world where visitors can enjoy mixed feelings such as climbing, Tanzania wildlife safari, cultural exploration, various adventurous activities, and chilling on idyllic sandy beaches of the Indian Ocean. The tourism condition of Tanzania was all good until when it got struck by a sudden and a never expected downgrading factor.
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The tourism sector was negatively affected by eruption of Covid-19, as airlines were grounded and many nations barred their citizens from travelling abroad. It was packed with negative effects on various aspects such as the global economy, social interactions, manufacturing processes, international import and export trade, and the most significant impact was observed on the tourism industry.
However, Tanzania exercised something different, imposing no lockdown on its citizens as other countries did. It took necessary measure to make sure that its people are not infected, while those who are infected get the necessary medical attention.
The government used well the funds that were issued by different organisations and countries in mitigating effects of Covid-19, some of the funds were directed to tourism services in its national parks and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
Increase in number of tourists, no doubt, can be attributed to the way the government act in using the funds, but also because of innovation of those who work in the national parks. All these deserve commendation.
