Tanzania authorities said on Monday that the number of foreign tourists visiting the east African nation has started to rise after the country reopened its skies for international flights on May 18 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hamisi Kigwangalla, the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, said statistics registered from June showed that the number of foreign tourists has increased compared with April and May.
In July, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area received 1,972 tourists compared with 202 tourists received in April, he told a news conference in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
Kigwangalla added that the Tanzania National Parks Authority received a total of 3,666 tourists in July compared with 517 tourists received in April.
“Tanzania welcomes all visitors while observing our guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” said the official.
In 2019, Tanzania received 1,527,230 tourists and generated 2.6 billion U.S. dollars in revenue. The tourism sector supports about 1.6 million direct and indirect jobs, according to Kigwangalla.
