Written by
Faridah N Kulumba
During this hard situation when the number of tourists is low as the world battles the Covid-19 pandemic, many tourists from different countries, most especially from Russia, seem to be giving Tanzania’s tourism industry a reason to smile.
Tanzania’s ten key sources of tourists include the United States of America, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Canada, Australia, Ireland and the Netherlands.
But Russia which spans eastern Europe and Northern Asia is recently emerging as the outbound tourism market frontier to explore for Tanzania, bolstering the east African resource-rich country’s hope to mitigate the ripple effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Traditionally, the number of Russian tourists visiting Tanzania has been almost negligible.
Recently, the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO) invited a marketing cum journalism expert from Russia as part of its effort to recover tourism business under UNDP support, where they charted out ways of capturing the sleeping Russian giant outbound.
Marketing Strategy
In 2019 Tanzania launched a six day tourism road show in some European countries to promote the country’s tourist attractions.
According to The Africa, ten Tanzanian tourist companies participated in the road shows that lasted through the month of June 2019 in London, Brussels, Paris, and Lyon.
The Marketing officer of Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) revealed that the visit to those countries was to increase the tourists so that they can meet the target of 2 million tourists.
Why is Russia active in touring Tanzania during Covid-19?
Ms Claire Vuylseteke, working with the Rossiyskaya Gazeta, a print online media house, explained that Tanzania tops the lists of countries which Russian tourists are allowed to visit in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Other nations in the list were Egypt, Turkey, Maldives, Greece, Tunisia, Japan, Cuba, United Arab Emirates, Serbia and Montenegro.
She added that Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar is currently an affordable destination offering sea and sun options, but there is intense competition in Mediterranean countries when summer begins in Europe.
Besides all that, according to Vuylseteke, about 56 percent of Russian in general are not afraid of Covid-19, including 31 percent of them who are definitely not afraid at all.
Tanzania’s confidence
The Executive officer of Tanzania Association of Tour Operators Mr Siril Akko, said that he was optimistic that chartered flights and the anticipated air Tanzania scheduled flight to Moscow would help to secure arrivals of customers looking for luxury experiences.
Why Tanzania should eye Russia more
In 2019 Russia ranked 5th globally with the highest number of billionaires after the U.S, China, Germany and India. Russia travellers spend over $40 billion, teh highest amount than any other country in the world, said Ms Vuylssteke. A Russian spends an average of $1.676 per foreign holiday trip, higher than a European.
