By Business Insider Reporter
The Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO) is intensifying its global engagement efforts to support the tourism sector’s rapid growth – a push reinforced by a recent high-level meeting between its leadership and the Dutch Ambassador to Tanzania at the Gran Meliá Hotel in Arusha.
The engagement underscored TATO’s strategy of strengthening international partnerships to attract investment, expand market reach, and promote sustainable tourism. With the tourism sector posting strong rebounds and diversifying its visitor base, such diplomacy is increasingly central to positioning Tanzania as a competitive and resilient global destination.
During the constructive engagement with Ambassador Marjo Crompvoets, the TATO board – led by Chairman Willy Chambulo – reiterated the sector’s commitment to deeper international cooperation. The meeting signalled a fresh drive to strengthen bilateral ties, with the Netherlands reaffirmed as a strategic partner in tourism, conservation, and broader development initiatives across East Africa.
Diplomatic and economic ties
Ambassador Crompvoets emphasised her government’s readiness to support Tanzania’s development priorities, particularly in boosting tourism – a sector critical for job creation, foreign exchange earnings and raising the country’s global profile.
TATO – speaking for licensed tour operators – reiterated its commitment to leveraging international partnerships to build resilience, spur innovation and expand Tanzania’s global reach, with a focus on enhancing visitor experience and safety.
Chairman Chambulo noted that diplomatic and economic ties with countries like the Netherlands offer not just tourism gains, but pathways for cultural exchange, investment and shared learning.
Both parties concluded the session with a mutual pledge to develop structured programmes and initiatives that would uplift the tourism sector while benefiting local communities.
Tourism data: A sector on the rise
The strategic timing of this meeting coincides with a period of remarkable growth for Tanzania’s tourism sector, according to the latest data from Bank of Tanzania (BoT) and related sources:
In 2024, international visitor arrivals soared to 2,141,895, up from 1,808,205 in 2023 – representing an 18.5 percent year-on-year increase, and a recovery to about 40 percent above pre-Covid 19 pandemic levels.
Corresponding tourism earnings rose to US$3,903.1 million, up 15.7 percent from the previous year – cementing tourism’s status as one of the country’s top foreign-exchange earners.
For 2025, BoT’s early data suggest continued momentum, with travel receipts approaching the US$ 4 billion mark in the year to February 2025. According to the October Monthly Economic Review (MER), tourism receipts reached nearly US$ 3.89 billion in the year ending September 2025.
By comparison, during the same period in 2024 and 2023, the sector earned about US$ 3.79 billion and US$ 3.16 billion in foreign exchange, respectively – underscoring a steady upward trend.
Moreover, in the 2024 calendar year, tourism earnings of US$ 3.79 billion outpaced the about US$ 3.26 billion generated from gold exports, highlighting tourism’s growing importance to Tanzania’s external sector and national economy.
Who’s visiting: Major source markets
According to BoT’s 2023 exit survey, the top source markets for Tanzania remained largely traditional long-haul markets, with the United States, Italy, and Germany topping the list.
That said, the 2024 data show growing diversification: long-haul markets continue to dominate, but long-haul visitors from China, South Africa, and Australia have newly entered the top-15 source markets.
On the regional front – particularly in 2025 – neighbouring countries are playing an increasingly important role. Between January and May 2025, for example, the bulk of arrivals came from Kenya (93,112 visitors, 12 percent of total) and Burundi (65,874, 8.3 percent), surpassing traditional long-haul markets such as the United States, France, and Italy.
Partnership and data: A shared path forward
The timing of the TATO–Netherlands engagement underscores how important international partnerships have become just as Tanzania’s tourism industry is scaling up rapidly. As visitor numbers multiply and source markets diversify, structured collaboration – especially with committed partners like the Netherlands – can help channel investments toward sustainable infrastructure, conservation initiatives, skills development, and better services.
According to TATO, such cooperation is not just about bringing more tourists – it’s about building a resilient, sustainable tourism ecosystem that safeguards Tanzania’s natural assets while delivering socio-economic benefits to communities. In that sense, the meeting with Ambassador Crompvoets represents more than diplomacy. It is a strategic building block in Tanzania’s bid to position itself – sustainably and boldly – as a world-class tourism destination.
