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Tanzania is poised to become the top global preferred destination for business travel and conference tourism destination as it has the right infrastructure and facilities in hosting international Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibition (MICE).
According to Kwakye Donkor, the Chief Executive Officer with Africa Tourism Partners (ATP) Tanzania has all it takes to become one of the leading destinations for business travel and international conferences.
“Tanzania has got that potential, however, it needs to be converted into reality,”
The ATP boss said Tanzania could get on the same level with South Africa on the continent, and be on the same league with Rwanda within the East African Community (EAC) economic bloc.
“Tanzania has the upper hand and it is more privileged as it sits in two economic blocs, namely the EAC and SADC,” emphasized
According to Mr. Donkor, travel buyers, suppliers, and national and regional tourism professionals have a critical role to play in advancing the country’s vision of positioning and marketing Tanzania as business and MICE tourism destination.
The ATP boss revealed to the delegates drawn from the hospitality sector that Tanzania is projected to feature among top ten countries that will experience a growth in business travel, between 2017 and 2027.
He insisted that the country needs to diversify its tourism components to fully achieve such a feat, while also challenging the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) to do Data Mining on Tourism Marketing Concepts.
He further urged the private sector foundation to start unlocking insights into travelers through surveys, real-time manufacturing, and social media.
According to the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), annual meetings, incentives conferences, and exhibitions industry output stands at $1.16trillion. The industry is set to bring enormous economic benefit to Tanzania.
Speaking earlier on, MICE coordinator with the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB) Ms. Dorothea Massawe said the board was on the process of establishing a national conventional bureau which will be crucial in driving forward the MICE agenda.
The International Visitors’ exit survey report carried out in 2017 shows that leisure and holiday makers continued to be the leading group visiting Tanzania. It accounts for 59.7 percent followed by those visiting friends and relatives at 17.3 percent while 10 percent came for business purposes and only 5.9 percent for meetings and conferences.
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