The northern zone, home to iconic attractions such as Serengeti and Kilimanjaro, continued to dominate the sector.
Dar es Salaam. Tourism earnings from Tanzania’s national parks and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area rose by 10.3 percent in the year to March 2025, reaching Sh164.3 billion, driven by a steady increase in visitor numbers.
According to the latest Consolidated Zonal Economic Performance Report released at the end of August, the number of visitors to the parks and Ngorongoro climbed by 5.5 percent to 538,147, with non-resident tourists accounting for about 70 percent of the total.
The northern zone, home to iconic attractions such as Serengeti and Kilimanjaro, continued to dominate the sector. It attracted 385,117 visitors, representing 70.3 percent of all arrivals, and generated Sh115.5 billionin earnings, or 71.6 percent of the total.
The lake zone followed, though performance dipped. Visitor numbers fell by 18.3 percent to 94,397, while earnings grew modestly by 10.8 percent to Sh41.5 billion, supported mainly by higher non-resident fees.
In the central zone, visits surged by 43 percent to 39,624, helping earnings jump 43.4 percent to TZS 2.7 billion. The southern highlands and south eastern zones, however, recorded declines in both arrivals and earnings, reflecting weaker demand compared to the northern circuit.
Analysts attribute the overall growth to government and private sector promotional efforts, which helped strengthen Tanzania’s appeal as a global safari destination despite regional disparities.
The report also shows that while total resident visitors remained broadly flat at 164,433, non-resident arrivals grew by 8.3 percent to 373,714, underscoring the continued importance of international tourism.
Meanwhile, the number of visitors to national museums rose sharply by 21.2 percent to 25,570, but earnings fell by 5.5 percent to Sh192.2million. The drop was linked to fewer non-resident visitors in Dar es Salaam, although the city still accounted for nearly 80 percent of museum revenues.
