Tanzania, a beautiful East African country, positions itself as a destination for investors and business persons, with its many tourist attractions. These attractions include the infamous Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa, Zanzibar, National parks, fascinating lakes, and one of the world’s largest game reserves.

Tanzania has evolved into a top investment hub growing in ranks and competing effectively with other prominent players in the region such as Uganda and Kenya for investors looking beyond the tourism and hospitality sector.

At Shikana group, we are organisation focused on the provision of legal and investment advisory services to investors in Tanzania and East African commuitites.

Let us  take you on an expository journey of Tanzania’s hospitality potentials and why you should consider Tanzania as your following investment site in Africa.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN TANZANIA

Tanzania boasts over 16 national parks, 28 game reserves, and Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Mount Kilimanjaro

She is also referred to as the roof of Africa as she is the highest peak in Africa. 

Currently, a dormant volcano located in the Northern part of the country at the border with Kenya, the Mountain stands at approximately 19,000 feet above sea levels and has over 20,000 visitors yearly. 

It is accessible through the Kilimanjaro International Airport, which also serves as a route for tourists to access the Northern Safari Circuits.

Zanzibar

Tourism here involves a string of beautiful islands, national parks, and the local culture. Tourism is a significant income source to the island inhabitants, providing about 25% of the islands’ income.

The Zanbizar islands are accessed through the Zanbizar International Airport or by flying into Dar es Salaam, the country’s former capital and the largest city and then taking a ferry ride to the island.

  • National Parks

In 2018, Serengeti Park won the title of Best African Safari Park. The Serengeti is but one of many parks and game reserves located in the country.

 The parks also boast a large diversity of animal life, from cheetahs to wildebeests, giraffes, hippopotamuses, and the big five of Africa (lions, elephants, leopards, rhinoceroses, and the cape buffalo) and hosts more than 330,000 visitors yearly.

Other notable parks in the country include the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which is also home to the Ngorongoro crater, an extinct volcanic caldera, the Tarangire National Park, and the Lake Manyara National Park.

The Olduvai Gorge, also known as the seat of humanity following the discovery of the earliest specimen of the genus Homo habilis, is also found in one of the numerous conservation areas in the country, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, to be precise.

TOURISM IN TANZANIA

Tanzania is one of Africa’s fast-developing countries in terms of its economy.

Tourism is one sector that is fast becoming a driver of this economy, with the country benefiting from the industry’s dual products, namely, safaris and beaches. 

Tanzania is currently the only African country that has allocated more than 25% of its total landmass area for wildlife national parks and protected areas. Currently, there are over 15 National Parks, 28 Game Reserves, and much more in Tanzania. 

The country also boasts of many renowned tourist attractions, like the Serengeti plains, the Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, and Mount Kilimanjaro, the Mikumi Ruaha National Parks and the Selous Game Reserve. 

Tanzania’s tourism and hospitality industry is the country’s major foreign exchange income generator, amassing USD 2.4 billion in 2018 and USD 2.2 billion in 2017. Tourist numbers reached 1.4 million people in 2018, as compared to 1.3 million in 2017. 

These numbers and indices further show tourism’s potentials as a powerful income generation tool in the country. These monies came from tourists from Europe, followed by tourists from Asia, the Americas, Middle East and Africa.

Investors worldwide are beginning to realise the country’s potentials and are aiming to invest. Not too long ago, Shikana groups helped represent a hospitality company with assets across East Africa in an acquisition by an international hospitality company based in the UK. 

Also, the Middle East is waking up to Tanzania’s great potential. One of the first significant entrants to the market was a UAE company Albwardy Group, the Kilimanjaro Hotel owner in Dar es Salaam and the Zamani in Zanzibar.  

The Tanzanian government has also realised the potential of tourism on the economy, thus approving further building in the Serengeti. This renovation would increase the about 940 bed capacity of the hotels and resorts in the area to about 4,500 beds to allow for more tourist stays.

 The additional beds would make the Serengeti’s capacity about ten times more than the infamous Masai Mara Parks capacity in Kenya. This expansion is essential to meet up the increased demands for safari tourism in the country.

Tanzania also has opportunities for conference tourism for businesses, with excellent facilities in the northern city of Arusha, which serves as the gateway to the Northern Safari Circuit and the Kilimanjaro international airport’s location, which has daily flights to other East African countries like Ethiopia and Kenya.  

As the country capitalises on its tourism and hospitality potentials, there is also an increase in public and private investments that currently increase its possibilities and advantages as a world-class tourist destination site.

 At its current pace of growth, the government will be among the fastest-growing tourism and hospitality industries within the next decade, as stated by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

In 2016, the country had a tourist size of 1.28 million, making it one of the most visited destination sites in Sub-Saharan Africa and the continent, with attractions such as Mount Kilimanjaro, Zanbizar and the Serengeti National Park increasing the country’s global relevance and impact.

With these growing indices and potentials, the nation’s government strives to further tap into the possibilities and increase the tourist population to about 3 million annual visitors by 2022. 

GDP FROM TOURISM

According to data from the World Travel and Tourism Council, tourism alone constituted about 4.7% of the country’s GDP in 2016, which makes up to TSh4.59trn or $2.1bn.

Tourism is also a significant export generator, with visitors generating TSh5.46trn ($2.5bn) in 2016, or 21.4% of the country’s total Gross domestic product, according to the WTTC. 

The tourism and hospitality sector was also a significant labour employer, generating employment for about 470,500 people in 2016.

 This employment translated to about 1.4 million people supported indirectly from the industry from the people being directly supported, thereby curbing the country’s high unemployment rate. 

These indices have helped to make the country one of the top ten African countries to record a vast and fast-growing tourism and hospitality industry on the continent.

 It is also in the top five countries in East Africa, trailing behind Kenya and Ethiopia in ranking, according to the Travel and Tourism Competitive Index 2019 report released by the Jumia Africa Hospitality.

TOURISM IN A PANDEMIC

The current pandemic has placed an enormous burden on the country’s hospitality industry as flights halted and social distancing measures and lockdowns took effect in most countries. 

According to a government study on the impact of the pandemic, the sector was set to have garnered approximately 1.9 million tourists, employed 622,000 people and generated about US$2.9 billion this year alone, based on previous statistics. Unfortunately, the government could not achieve these indices.

Despite all these, the government has made efforts to rejuvenate the industry amid the pandemic, with adequate SOPs and guidelines to bolster the sector back to its former projections and create a suitable environment for investors to utilise investment opportunities.

WHAT SHIKANA CAN DO FOR YOU

While the government works on getting the tourism industry back on track amid the pandemic, here at Shikana, we continue to provide all legal and investment advice needed to invest in this fast-growing industry. 

We are well equiped and always ready to provide counsel on how best to invest in the sector and navigate existing policies.

CONCLUSION

Tanzania’s hospitality and tourism sector is one of the fastest-growing industries in the continent of Africa and the world at large.

 The tourism and hospitality opportunities in Tanzania are vast, with many potentials springing up for investors to invest in today. 

Here at Shikana groups, we guarantee our investors that all Shikana group members can cater to their legal and advisory related affairs in the hospitality industry they choose to invest in.

 You can count on our expertise to navigate the political and regulatory-related challenges within the industry. Reach out to us just as you consider investing in one of Africa’s fastest-growing hospitality and tourism industries here in Tanzania.

Get your FREE guide on how to build a successful business in East Africa.

Enter your details below and we'll send over your free guide right away to the email address you provide.

You have Successfully Subscribed!