Tanzania tour operators roll out the red carpet for international travel agents

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Tour operators are rolling out the red carpet for international travel agents due to arrive soon in Tanzania as part of its grand plan to reboot the multi-billion-dollar tourism industry in the post-COVID-19 pandemic.

  1. Hobbled by a brutal wave of Coronavirus, tourism is a money-spinning industry in Tanzania.
  2. It creates 1.3 million decent jobs, generates $2.6 billion annually, equivalent to 18 as well as 30 percent of the country’s GDP and export receipts, respectively.
  3. Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO) is currently working around the clock on behalf of its 300-plus members to bring in dozens of the travel agents by end of September 2021.

“We are rolling out a welcome mat for dozens of global travel agents, as part of a new strategy to market our destination in the aftermath of [the] COVID-19 pandemic,” said the organization’s CEO, Mr. Sirili Akko.

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Agents, or as more of them today prefer – travel advisors or designers – normally sell the tourism destinations and simplify the travel planning process for tourists, in addition to provide consultation services and entire travel packages.

“Our plan [is] to bring a total of 300 international travel agents for the next 12 month[s], equivalent to 25 agents per month, to explore and experience how Tanzania is endowed with unrivaled natural beauty,” Mr. Akko noted.

Under United Nations Development Program (UNDP) support, TATO has been investing heavily in terms of time, skills, and funds to position Tanzania as a safe and luxury destination in its high-spirited plot to woo high-end travelers in the country through targeted marketing strategies in several key markets.

Allied Market Research findings show that the global luxury tourism market will reach $1.2 trillion in the period 2021-2027 with a compound annual growth ratio of 11.1 percent.

The whole idea is to sustain recovery of the ailing tourism industry in order to spur other businesses, recover thousands of lost jobs, and generate revenue for the economy.

The plan to bring the global travel agents to the country come as a surprise, as the tour operators attempt to diversify its marketing strategy in order to attract more visitors and boost tourism numbers to survive the onslaught of cutthroat competition from other destinations in the post-COVID-19 pandemic.

Tourism industry analysts say that the endeavor, in fact, suggests a historic shift in marketing strategy, as traditionally the tour operators’ approach has been skewed towards traveling abroad to promote the country’s endowed tourist attractions to a greater degree.

TATO Chairman, Mr. Wilbard Chambulo, said his organization has been working on a number of initiatives to resuscitate the bedridden tourism industry.

“We’ve conceived an idea to change the strategy, because it makes more marketing and economic sense to bring the travel agents to get a glimpse of the country’s bestowed natural attractions than our members to follow them overseas with still and moving pictures, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mr. Chambulo noted.

TATO, along with the Ministry of Health, recently rolled out the largest free mass COVID-19 vaccination spree that saw thousands of frontline workers in the tourism industry receiving jabs ahead of the tourist peak season.

The association also developed basic health infrastructure support in key tourism circuits, which entailed among other things, having ambulances on the ground, agreements with some hospitals to be used for tourists’ services in case of any contingency, and linking the project to the services of flying doctors – all in an effort to revive the tourism industry.

More recently, TATO has managed to roll out, in collaboration with the government, COVID-19 specimen collection centers at Kogatende and Seronera in central and northern Serengeti respectively.

Fortunately, these basic efforts have somehow started paying dividends by commanding some traffic and stimulating new bookings for TATO members.

Switzerland’s leading leisure airline, Edelweiss, has announced it will add Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar, and Dar es Salaam as its 3 new destinations in Tanzania from October, offering a ray of hope to the tourism industry.

Edelweiss, a sister company of Swiss International Air Lines and a member of the Lufthansa Group, boasts a customer base of nearly 20 million across the world.

From October 8, 2021, Edelweiss will be flying direct from Zurich to Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA), a major gateway to Tanzania’s northern tourism circuit, twice a week, with high-end tourists from Europe to grace the tourism peak season.

#rebuildingtravel

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Adam Ihucha - eTN Tanzania

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