Tanzania’s Tourism Futures

Abstract

Tourism provides a robust stream of revenues for the country, with benefits that reverberate widely through the economy. The sector generates the bulk of exports for the country. As a relatively labor-intensive sector, tourism serves as a robust source of good quality jobs in the country, with the potential to alleviate poverty. This report explores the contribution, the potential, and the challenges that confront the sector. It briefly describes the structure of the sector in Tanzania and compares it to some of its closest competitors in Sub-Saharan Africa. It identifies the limits and opportunities of current policy priorities through a series of integrated economic-biological models and suggests alternative strategies for growth and development of the industry. It begins with a brief overview of the sector and then explores alternative development paths for the sector - one which focuses on the established northern circuit and the other which explores the opportunities and constraints of diversifying tourism into the southern circuit, especially in the Ruaha landscape.