TANZANIA WANTS TO TAP INTO CHINA’S LARGE POPULATION TO ATTRACT VISITORS

Seeking to boost its tourist numbers, Tanzania is now looking East for business travelers and wealthy holiday makers.

“We want to tap into China’s large population to market our products and hope to attract visitors to Tanzania,” Tanzania Tourist Board managing director Devota Mdachi said.

Tanzania is among eight African countries that the China National Tourism Administration has recognized as a suitable tourist destinations for the Chinese. The other countries are Kenya, Seychelles, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Mauritius, and Zambia.

She said that TTB had invited a high-level delegation to market Tanzanian wildlife parks, historical sites and Mount Kilimanjaro to Chinese tourists.

TTB has been participating in tourism fairs and exhibitions in China to expose Tanzania’s tourist products, mainly wildlife, the Indian Ocean beaches and historical sites.

The UN World Tourism Organization has recognized China as the new number one tourism source market in the world.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy in Dar es Salaam will also be holding a meeting to sensitive Tanzanian business executives on the best options to capture the lucrative Chinese tourist market.

Chinese tourists to Tanzania rose to 30,000 last year from 13,760 visitors in 2012. China produces about 120 million overseas tourists each year.