Tanzania tourism industry entered a new phase of growth in 2025, with international arrivals, tourism earnings, visitor spending and destination recognition all recording significant gains. The latest 2025 International Visitors’ Exit Survey Report, the 25th edition of Tanzania’s tourism sector survey, provides important evidence of how the country’s tourism market is evolving, and where the industry must focus next to sustain this momentum.

The report, jointly produced by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT), Bank of Tanzania (BOT), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Immigration Services Department (ISD) and Zanzibar Commission for Tourism (ZCT), offers valuable insights into visitor behaviour, source markets, travel arrangements, expenditure, visitor satisfaction, attractions and areas requiring further improvement.

For the private sector, including tour operators represented by the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO), these findings are more than statistics. They provide a roadmap for strengthening Tanzania’s competitiveness, improving the visitor experience, expanding Tanzania tourism products and ensuring that growth translates into wider economic and conservation benefits.

Tanzania’s Tourism Growth Enters a New Dimension

In 2025, Tanzania recorded 2,294,495 international tourist arrivals, up from 2,141,895 in 2024. This represents growth of approximately 7 percent and places arrivals well above pre-pandemic levels.

Even more significant was the performance of tourism earnings.

Tanzania Tourism earnings increased by 13 percent to USD 4.41 billion in 2025, compared with USD 3.90 billion in 2024. The growth was driven not only by increasing visitor numbers but also by higher expenditure per visitor.

The average expenditure per visitor per night in the United Republic of Tanzania increased by 19 percent to USD 289, compared with USD 243 in 2024. For visitors travelling through package arrangements, average expenditure rose to USD 479 per person per night from USD 416.

This is an important signal for Tanzania’s tourism industry: the future is not only about attracting more visitors, but attracting the right visitors, encouraging longer stays, increasing visitor value and developing experiences that generate greater benefits throughout the tourism value chain.

Leisure Tourism Continues to Drive the Market

Tanzania remains overwhelmingly a leisure and holiday destination.

In 2025, leisure and holiday travel accounted for 64.6 percent of visitors to the United Republic of Tanzania, while in Zanzibar it represented an extraordinary 92.9 percent of international arrivals.

Wildlife safaris remain the leading Tanzania Tourism activity on the Mainland, complemented by beach tourism, cultural experiences, mountain climbing, birdwatching and other nature-based activities. Zanzibar continues to be strongly associated with beach tourism.

This reinforces Tanzania’s competitive advantage as a destination capable of combining wildlife, mountains, culture, beaches and adventure within one country.

It also creates opportunities for tour operators to develop more integrated itineraries for example, combining a Serengeti safari with Kilimanjaro, cultural experiences, coastal destinations or Zanzibar, while encouraging visitors to stay longer and explore more of Tanzania.

The Rise of the Professional Tour Operator

Perhaps one of the most important findings for Tanzania’s tour operating industry is the growing influence of professional travel intermediaries.

In 2025, travel agents and tour operators were the leading source of information about Tanzania, accounting for 49.1 percent of respondents. This was a major increase from 23.9 percent in 2020 and 41.8 percent in 2023.

Friends and relatives remained significant at 37.2 percent, while internet and websites accounted for 5.6 percent.

The finding demonstrates something important: even in an increasingly digital travel environment, professional destination expertise remains highly valuable.

Travelers may discover Tanzania through social media, websites and digital platforms, but many still depend on tour operators and travel advisors to transform inspiration into a safe, reliable and professionally coordinated journey.

This places an enormous responsibility on Tanzania’s tour operating sector to maintain high standards of service, transparency, destination knowledge, safety, responsible tourism and customer care.

Why Package Tanzania Tourism Matters to Tanzania’s Economy

The survey also reveals the economic importance of professionally coordinated Tanzania Tourism.

Package tours accounted for 58.8 percent of visitors in the United Republic of Tanzania in 2025, up from 56.3 percent in 2024.

The economic contribution of package tourism is particularly striking. Approximately 75.2 percent of Tanzania tourism earnings in the United Republic of Tanzania came from visitors travelling under package arrangements.

This demonstrates the importance of the tour operator ecosystem connecting international visitors with accommodation providers, guides, transport companies, national parks, cultural attractions, airlines, communities and other tourism businesses.

For Tanzania, a strong and professional tour operating sector is therefore not simply a service industry, it is a critical component of the national tourism economy.

Tanzania’s Iconic Attractions Remain Strong – but Diversification is Emerging

Ngorongoro, Serengeti, beaches, Stone Town and Tarangire remained among the most visited attractions in 2025.

However, an encouraging development is that their combined share of visitor movement declined from 62.6 percent in 2024 to 58.9 percent in 2025. This indicates growing visitor movement towards a wider range of attractions across the country.

This trend presents a major opportunity.

Tanzania possesses extraordinary tourism assets beyond its most famous destinations, including Ruaha, Nyerere, Mikumi, Udzungwa, Gombe, Mahale, Katavi, Rubondo, Mount Kilimanjaro, Lake Manyara, cultural tourism destinations and the country’s coastal areas.

Greater diversification can help spread tourism expenditure geographically, create opportunities for communities outside traditional tourism hubs, reduce pressure on heavily visited attractions and encourage investment in emerging Tanzania Tourism circuits.

For TATO, supporting this diversification is strategically important to building a more balanced, resilient and inclusive Tanzania Tourism economy.

Visitor Experience: Tanzania’s Greatest Asset is Its People

The report also provides an encouraging picture of Tanzania’s destination image.

Visitors continued to highlight the friendliness of Tanzanian people, wildlife, scenic beauty, beaches, food, service, history and culture and mountain experiences among the key positive aspects of their visits.

Importantly, repeat visitors increased to 48 percent, compared with an average of 42 percent during the previous three years.

Repeat visitation is one of the strongest indicators of destination satisfaction.

A visitor who returns is not merely buying another holiday. They are demonstrating confidence in the destination, its people, services, attractions and overall tourism ecosystem.

Infrastructure and Visitor Experience Must Keep Pace with Growth

While the survey presents an overwhelmingly positive picture, it also identifies areas requiring continued attention.

Visitors highlighted roads and other infrastructure, traffic congestion, some airports, hotel facilities, toilets, water, air conditioning, cleanliness and social services among areas requiring improvement.

These concerns should not be viewed simply as shortcomings. They are signals of where investment and public-private collaboration can generate the greatest returns.

As Tanzania attracts more visitors and seeks to increase average visitor spending, destination competitiveness will increasingly depend on the entire Tanzania Tourism experience, from arrival at an airport to road connectivity, park infrastructure, accommodation standards, digital connectivity, guiding services and the quality of interactions with local communities.

The Government has already undertaken investments in airports, roads and tourism infrastructure, while encouraging private-sector investment in accommodation and related facilities. Continued collaboration between government and industry will be essential to ensure that infrastructure development keeps pace with Tanzania Tourism growth.

The Role of TATO: Turning Tourism Growth into Sustainable Industry Development

The findings of the 2025 International Visitors’ Exit Survey reinforce the strategic importance of TATO as the voice and representative body of Tanzania’s tour operating sector.

TATO’s role goes beyond representing individual businesses. The Association works to strengthen the entire tourism ecosystem by connecting the private sector with government, conservation authorities, development partners and other stakeholders.

1. Advocacy and Policy Engagement

TATO uses industry evidence and the experiences of its members to advocate for policies and regulations that support tourism competitiveness, investment, sustainability and ease of doing business.

The survey’s findings on infrastructure, visitor experience and tourism diversification provide important evidence for constructive public-private dialogue.

2. Raising Professional Standards

With tour operators playing such an important role in influencing visitor decisions, professionalism is fundamental.

TATO supports capacity building, training, knowledge exchange and professional development to ensure that Tanzania’s tour operators and their staff are equipped to meet evolving international expectations.

3. Promoting Sustainable and Responsible Tourism

Tanzania Tourism growth must go hand in hand with conservation.

TATO continues to support initiatives that link tourism with wildlife protection, environmental stewardship and community development. This is particularly important as Tanzania expands tourism beyond its traditional circuits and introduces more visitors to emerging destinations.

4. Supporting Tourism Product Diversification

The survey’s evidence that visitor movement is increasingly spreading beyond Tanzania’s traditional attractions presents an important opportunity.

TATO can help its members develop and market itineraries that include lesser-known destinations, cultural experiences, adventure tourism, community-based tourism and emerging circuits—creating new economic opportunities while reducing pressure on highly concentrated tourism areas.

5. Strengthening Tanzania’s International Market Position

With tour operators serving as the most important source of destination information for nearly half of surveyed visitors, the private sector has a significant role in communicating Tanzania’s story to the world.

TATO and its members contribute to destination promotion through international partnerships, trade engagements, digital platforms, travel trade networks and direct engagement with overseas travel advisors and tour operators.

6. Building a More Resilient Tourism Industry

Tourism is vulnerable to global economic shifts, geopolitical events, climate-related disruptions and changes in travel behaviour.

TATO’s role is therefore also to help build an industry that can adapt. This includes strengthening collaboration, sharing market intelligence, supporting members during disruptions and promoting policies that enhance the sector’s long-term resilience.

From Growth to Greater Value

The 2025 survey makes one message particularly clear: Tanzania’s tourism industry is not simply recovering, it is evolving.

The country attracted more than 2.29 million international visitors and generated USD 4.41 billion in tourism earnings in 2025. Average visitor expenditure increased substantially, package tourism remained economically significant, and Tanzania continued to receive global recognition for its natural and tourism assets.

Yet the next stage of tourism development must be measured by more than arrivals.

The industry must ask:

• How much value does each visitor generate?
• How long do they stay?
• How widely are tourism benefits distributed?
• How much does tourism contribute to conservation and communities?
• How can Tanzania develop new tourism circuits without compromising the resources that attract visitors in the first place?

These questions will become increasingly important as Tanzania moves towards a more diversified and sustainable tourism economy.

A Strong Outlook for Tanzania Tourism

The survey projects a positive medium-term outlook for Tanzania, supported by stronger global visibility, international awards, improved connectivity, investment in infrastructure, policy support and growing demand for nature-based tourism.

At the same time, the report identifies product diversification and sustainability as critical to managing risks and securing long-term resilience.

This is where the collective responsibility of government, TATO, tour operators, conservation authorities, communities, airlines, accommodation providers, development partners and other tourism stakeholders becomes critical.

Tanzania has the resources to remain one of the world’s leading tourism destinations. The challenge, and opportunity – is to ensure that the next chapter of growth is more diversified, more sustainable, more competitive and more inclusive.

For TATO, the 2025 Tanzania Tourism Sector Survey is therefore not merely a record of what Tanzania achieved. It is a call to action for what the tourism industry can achieve next.

The numbers are encouraging. The opportunity is even greater. The task now is to turn tourism growth into lasting value for Tanzania, its people, its wildlife, its communities and future generations.