Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti National Park and Mount Kilimanjaro may be the top three most popular destinations for tourists who come to Tanzania, but when it comes to online searches it is Zanzibar Island which tops the bill.
That was revealed during the just launched ‘Hospitality Report,’ for Tanzania as compiled by ‘Jovago,’ which is Africa’s leading hotel online booking platform.
The report released, tabled in Arusha, is the latest compilation in the study on traveller trends across the country which is visited by an average of 1.2 million tourists annually.
The Jovago Executive, Mr Paul Midy, revealed in the report that Zanzibar, comprising of Unguja and Pemba Isles, accounted for 38 percent of the destination searches by customers, beating Dar es Salaam with 27 percent.
The country’s tourism capital Arusha, recorded 20 percent of total searches, with Mwanza getting 10 percent and Bagamoyo, the historical town managing five percent.
The number of Tanzanians who are connected to the internet in one way or another has reached nine million, which is more than 20 percent of the country’s population of 45 million, according to the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), records. Still most of the online destination searches may be coming from outside the country, by people who plan to visit Tanzania.
The Jovago Country Manager for Tanzania, Mr Andrea Guzzoni revealed that, the country being a virgin market with lots of potential, may live up to its projected 2017 foreign arrivals expected to clock at two million visitors but investors need to ensure that accommodation facilities meet all segments of travellers from the cost conscious to luxury oriented ones.
But while Zanzibar tops internet searches, thanks to its beaches tourism potential, historic stone town and popular annual events such as ‘Sauti za Busara,’ concerts and the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), the greater numbers of tourists are still flocking into Ngorongoro Crater, game-driving within Serengeti or busy climbing Kilimanjaro.
Ngorongoro Crater attracts 600,000 visitors per year, ahead of Serengeti National Park’s 350,000 and Mount Kilimanjaro’s 100,000 visitors. The Isle gets less than 200,000 documented travellers in a year.
This makes the Northern Zone Circuit to remain the most preferred location for leisure travellers while the Isles get more hits from internet surfers. Dar es salaam City, which is hardly mentioned in the country’s tourism circles, boasts the highest number of hotel rooms at 4,489,followed by Zanzibar with 3,409,Bagamoyo which has 444, Ngorongoro (258), Serengeti National Park (242) and Kilimanjaro with 109 acceptable hotel rooms.
