THE Tanzania Royal Tour documentary has continued to gain momentum worldwide after the film, starring President Samia Suluhu Hassan, premiered in Stockholm, Sweden recently as the country continue to witness increased number of tourists.
The Royal Tour premiering in the Scandinavian country is part of efforts by the government to promote tourism and investment opportunities in Tanzania.
Tanzanian Ambassador to Sweden, Grace Olotu said the premiering of the documentary was attended by travel and tourism journalists from that country, who are expected to promote tourist attractions found in Tanzania in their country.
Produced by award-winning American travel journalist, Mr Peter Greenberg, the Sweden premiere of the film is expected to promote and attract tourists from 12 countries in the Scandinavia and Baltic Sea.
The Tanzanian envoy explained further that the government will continue with efforts to promote tourism in Tanzania by premiering the documentary in other countries which are under her supervision.
She mentioned the countries in question as Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia among others.
“I am highly optimistic that efforts by the government through our embassy and other stakeholders will bear fruit in increasing the number of tourists in the transition period after the Covid-19 pandemic which had a negative impact in the tourism sector worldwide,” she remarked.
On the other hand, tourism goodwill ambassador, Mr Hazze Shija Sandström, who also attended the launching ceremony, was hopeful that the ongoing efforts in promoting tourism will increase the number of tourists and unlock tourism opportunities in the southern circuit.
Commenting on economic diplomacy, Ambassador Olotu said available figures show that Scandinavian countries have invested 1 billion US dollars in 193 projects which have created 12,000 jobs.
The envoy mentioned sectors in which investors from those countries have invested as agriculture, tourism, transportation, manufacturing, natural resources, energy, construction and communication.
Meanwhile, the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) Eastern Zone has managed to collect 4.3bn/- from tourists who visited the tourism destinations in the circuit.
The collections are the results of an increase in the number of tourists, thanks to the efforts by President Samia in promoting tourism attractions through the Royal Tour film.
The government has also continued to improve the infrastructure that has facilitated movement of tourists from one point to another.
This was unveiled by the Tanapa’s assistant commissioner for Eastern zone Damian Saru when he was presenting a topic on achievements and challenges in the environment and tourism sectors.
He said, in July and August of the financial year 2022/23 the eastern zone received 51,103 visitors up from 23,493 tourists who arrived in a corresponding period in the year 2021/22.
“This is an increase of 117.54 per cent compared to a corresponding period of the year 2021/22 on the number of tourists who visited the eastern circuit,” he said.
The eastern zone circuit is composed of Nyerere National Park, Mikumi National Park, Saadani and Udzungwa.
“The high number of tourists to the eastern zone has increased income for the period of two months. We collected 4.3bn/- compared to 1.5bn/- that was recorded in 2021/22,” he added, thanking President Samia for her tireless initiatives to improve the tourism sector.
Mr Saru said during the period under review Nyerere national park generated 2.8bn/- compared to 916m/- that was raised in the same period of the previous financial year.
The Mikumi National Park recorded 939.6m/- up from 452.8m/-, while the Saadani national park collected 385m/- in July and August compared to 145.9m/- of the corresponding period of financial year 2021/22.
The senior Tanapa official added that the Udzungwa national park managed to collect 135.3m/- up from 50m/- of the year 2021/22.
Speaking of the number of tourists per a tourism destination, Mr Saru said in July and August of the year 2022/23 Nyerere National Park received 12,626 visitors compared to 5,064 who came in the previous two months of the fiscal year.
For its part, Mikumi national park received 25,405 tourists, up from 11,732 of the same periods in 2021/22, whereas the Saadani national park had 9,303 tourists compared to 4,665.
“3769 tourists visited Udzungwa compared to 2030 of the previous year,” he said, adding that the eastern zone has a total of 12 hotels and tourist camps, for which eight are in Nyerere National Parks, three in Mikumi and one is situated in Saadani national park.
According to him, TANAPA has invested in the hospitality industry by having tourist cottages in the villages nearby the national parks.
He invited more investors in the hospitality sector in all the tourism destinations for the circuit to be able to accommodate a large number of visitors at one go.
For his part, the Member of Parliament for Kilosa constituency Prof Palamagamba Kabudi also encouraged investors to inject their capitals in the hospitality industry as it has potential.
He said having enough hotels will enable tourists to spend more time in the tourism destinations, a move that will raise the income for the nearby areas, as opposed to the current situation where most of the accommodations are in Dar es Salaam.
For her part, the Morogoro Regional Commissioner Fatma Mwassa instructed for an effective environmental conservation strategy that will guarantee availability of water throughout the year.
