Nearly 106,000 visitors in one month: What Zanzibar is doing right in tourism

Officials credit Zanzibar’s success to its strategy of diversifying beyond Europe by targeting regional African markets while also cultivating interest from India, Russia, and China. This strategy has created a more resilient tourism sector that can tap both long-haul and regional flows.

In terms of continental and regional breakdown, while Europe continues to dominate overall arrivals, Kenya and South Africa stood out as key African markets. Kenya led with 4,515 visitors, a 78.9 percent leap from last year, making up 4.3 percent of all arrivals. South Africa followed with 2,802 visitors, or 2.7 percent of the total, despite a year-on-year decline. Together, the two countries contributed over a third of all African visitors, The Citizen reports.

Europeans accounted for 61.5 percent of arrivals, indicating Zanzibar’s appeal to long-haul holidaymakers. Italy topped the charts with 16,507 visitors (15.6 percent of the total), followed by the UK at 7.7 percent.

Leisure remains Zanzibar’s biggest draw. An overwhelming 99.2 percent of visitors cited holidays as their reason for travel, with most staying about a week. The average length of stay was 8.2 days, fueling high hotel demand. About 913,911 hotel bed spaces were sold, which also represents an 88.5 percent occupancy rate.

Roughly 90 percent of visitors arrived by air, with 68,331 flying in on international flights and 26,964 arriving via domestic routes. Another 10,211 travelled by sea from mainland Tanzania.