The arrival of 10,000 tourists from China will further catapult the country's booming tourism industry.

The efforts of the Government to increase the number of tourists visiting local attractions have started to bare fruits as the country is anticipating to receive 10,000 tourists from China this year.

Efforts of bringing in such number of tourists is under the facilitation of the China's Touchroad International Holdings Group (Touchroad Group) that signed agreements with Tanzania Tourists Board (TTB) to market Tanzania's tourist attraction to China.

The arrival, apart from boosting the tourism industry and the Tanzania economy, will also play a big role in further cementing the long standing relationship between Tanzania and China which started in 1961.

As part of implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), a total of 35 Chinese tourists arrived in the country on Friday (January 18, 2019) for a three-day stay.

Moreover, other 300 tourists from China are anticipated to jet in Tanzania in March this year. According to the Prime Minister's office, the tourists from China will be received by Premier Kassim Majaliwa.

The decision by the Premier to receive the tourists was reached after hon. Majaliwa, met with Touchroad Group Chairman, Mr. Liehui He and Chairman for Board of Directors of Tanzania Tourist Board, Justice Thomas Mihayo, at his office in Dodoma city.

After their tour in Tanzania, the tourists will visit Djibouti and be received by the Prime Minister before heading to Zimbabwe where they will be received by President Emerson Mnangagwa.

Premier Majaliwa has urged citizens surrounding the tourist attractions to explore opportunities by selling various local products, adding that the country is well determined to make better use of the available natural resources for tourism purposes.

"The determinations go together with the improvement of infrastructure, upgrading of the attractive sites and other services. I am also impressed with the idea of making Dar es Salaam a tourist hub for foreigners, who will be visiting Tanzania, Lusaka, Harare, Johannesburg, and Djibouti," hon. Majaliwa said.

For his part, TTB Marketing Officer, Hozza Mbura, said the Chinese nationals have come to visit attractions available in Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo district in the Coast region.

Being in the country, the tourists visited the Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) station, which is among the key projects that were constructed by the government of China in the country.

The tourists also visited the national museum, the Makumbusho village in Kijitonyama, Bagamoyo museums as well as having a tour of the city. They were in the country for three days.

According to Mbura, "This is just the beginning as more tourists will be coming as days go on. Their arrival among others will also play part in increasing national economy as well as the foreign currency."

"This was a result of the TTB's trip to China to attract tourists and to advertise the newly launched Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft of Air Tanzania, which is expected to fly direct to various destinations in Middle and Far East countries."

Speaking to Premier Majaliwa, the Touchroad Group Chairman, said apart from the 10,000 target of this year; they will be adding the number of tourists by 20 per cent for a period of five years.

Mr. Liehui He said: "We are planning to use Air Tanzania which is expected to fly direct to China, to bring tourists straight from Shanghai, China."

Currently the statistics shows that the number of tourists that toured in Tanzania in 2018 stood at 1.3 million and the Government is targeting to attract 2 million tourists by 2020.

According to the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI)'s study, approximately 4.31 million Chinese visited Africa last year. Not only that but also China is considered as the largest tourism industry in the globe according to data released in 2017, which showed that about 145 million Chinese toured different parts in the world.

The TTB Marketing Officer, Mr. Mbura, said that "This is great opportunity for Tanzania to benefit more from tourism and increase the contribution of the industry to the national income."