Dar campaign boosts tourism by four per cent

A government-led marketing campaign helped boost tourist visits to Tanzania by four per cent last year, despite worries over security in East Africa, the tourism minister said on Thursday. Tourism is Tanzania’s top foreign-exchange earner and directly employs 500,000 people.

More than 1.14 million tourists visited in 2014, drawn by its pristine beaches, safari parks and snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro, up from 1.095 million the previous year.

 “Tourism currently accounts for 25 per cent of Tanzania’s total foreign exchange earnings,” Tourism Minister Lazaro Nyalandu told parliament.

Tanzania earned $1.95 billion(Sh190 billion) from tourism last year, up from $1.88 billion (Sh182 billion) a year earlier, central bank data showed. Visitors mostly come from Britain, Germany, the US and Italy. Nyalandu said higher tourist arrivals were partly driven by a government advertising campaign. Authorities are also cracking down on poachers threatening wildlife in safari parks, he said.