LET’S TAKE PRIDE IN OUR TOURISM RANKING

Tanzania’s efforts towards promoting its tourism are now paying dividends. The good news is that the country is now placed seventh among 45 places in the world as the preferred destination for tourists to visit this year.
This ranking by The New York Times January edition is no mean achievement by any standards. It is the result of concerted efforts of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, agencies such as the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB), our diplomatic missions abroad, publicity campaigns as well as travel agencies and other tourism stakeholders. Together, they propelled the country to where it is today.
Tanzania expected to receive one million tourists by the end of 2011 and generate about US$1.7 billion (about Sh2.7 trillion) in revenue if everything went according to plan. This is an improvement from 2009, when the country scooped $1.2 billion (about Sh1.9 trillion) from 714,367 visitors, according to the TTB managing director, Dr Aloyce Nzuki.
This year, he says, TTB will continue to promote sustainable tourism domestically and internationally, with the United States remaining the number one tourism market.
Tanzania should not be complacent about its new achievement, though. It should leave no stone unturned in achieving better performance. This will be possible only if all stakeholders put their heads together and come up with better strategies to achieve this goal.
 This requires a lot of resources in kind and mind from both the government and stakeholders. Here we are talking about raising the budget for tourism publicity and promotion not only locally but also abroad through our foreign missions.
Promotional activities such as tourism exhibitions abroad and tours for agents can do a lot to promote our country as an ideal tourist destination.Besides, we must not forget the development of the country’s infrastructure such as airports, roads, railways and communication in general.
These are crucial if tourists are to reach the country and return home according to their schedules. All in all, being placed among 45 countries that tourists would like to visit this year is no mean achievement. We should all toast to it.