DAR ES SALAAM, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania said Thursday that it has embarked on a vigorous campaign aimed at promoting tourist attractions in its southern circuit.
Ramo Makani, Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, told parliament that the southern circuit boasts immense tourist attractions that were largely unknown outside the country.
"Our southern circuit promotion campaign will involve using diverse international media to expose the country's tourist potential to the world," the deputy minister told the House.
Makani said the government has also directed all district executive directors to identify tourists' attractions in their areas of jurisdiction for promotion.
A new report released a fortnight ago rated Tanzania's tourism industry as one of the fastest growing sectors in the country with figures showing a surge on tourist arrivals.
Alloyce Nzuki, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, said the 2016 International Visitors' Exit Survey Report indicated that the number of tourists who visited the country continued to rise.
He said the report showed that Tanzania hosted at least 1,284,279 tourists in 2016, an increase of 12 percent from 1,137,156 in 2015.
Tourism is Tanzania's largest foreign exchange earner since 2012, contributing an average of 2 billion U.S. dollars annually, which is equivalent to 25 percent of all exchange earnings, according to government data.
Tourism also contributes to more than 17 percent of the national GDP, and creating more than 1.5 million jobs.
