In a move to encourage more American tourists and investors, Tanzania's Ambassador to the United States, Mwanaidi Maajar, has tailored a “Discover Tanzania VIP Safari” for a small group of business executives from the United States to visit Tanzania mid this year. The two-week leisure safari to Tanzania will be the second to be organized, guided, and led by the Ambassador, aimed at exposing Tanzania's tourism and investment opportunities before American tourists and investors.

This year's safari is second to be organized by the ambassador, targeting a section of prominent American business executives, hoping to attract and encourage them to visit Tanzania as tourists and invest their monies in tourism and other economic ventures.

Participants in this year's “Discover Tanzania Safari” will be able to visit Tanzania’s natural and cultural attractions, as well as exploring business and investment opportunities available in this African destination and meet the Union President, Mr. Jakaya Kikwete, at a dinner function.

It is also expected that the US business executives will meet Zanzibar's President, Dr. Ali Mohamed Shein, at a similar working dinner where they will chart out issues affecting tourism and investment on the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar.

Tanzania's leading attractive sites pulling American tourists include the Serengeti National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, Ngorongoro Crater, and the spice islands of Zanzibar.

For the first time ever, the United States represents the largest single tourism market for Tanzania, attracting a record high of 58,379 visitors taking over from the traditional place held by the UK market. Combined with Canada, the number of visitors from North America reached 83,930 in recent years.

Supporting this growth of tourism from North America to mainland Tanzania and the spice islands of Zanzibar, is the fact that the number of American and Canadian tour operators offering Tanzania as a stand-alone destination has also soared.

(eTN)