Mohit Rathod – Mumbai
Zanzibar Tourism Promotion Center and Tanzania High Commission, New Delhi recently organised a gathering for Tanzanian diaspora and Indian travel fraternity in Mumbai, aiming at establishing the destination in India and strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries. The event’s major focus was encouraging bilateral relations and trade and investments from the India market.
Speaking to Express TravelWorld, Mohammed Hija, acting high commissioner of Tanzania to India, said, “We want Indians and Tanzanians to come together and find investment possibilities. There have been many changes in Tanzania recently and we want Indians to come and see them. There’s an increase in Indian tourists in Tanzania. We are targeting the leisure segment in India, however, MICE tourism is also growing gradually. We are also promoting film tourism in the India market.”
The Tanzanian government is working closely with India on the trade front. PM Narendra Modi is expected to visit Tanzania this month. Hija informed, “A number of transactions will be done between the two countries. We expect some exhibitions and Indo-African business interaction. We also anticipate that Narendra Modi’s visit will promote tourism from India to Tanzania.”
Jilesh Babla, director, Zanzibar Tourism Promotion Center India, suggested that lesiure accounts for a larger share of Indian tourist arrivals; and the tourism body aims to boost tourism through working closely with Indian travel trade associations – TAAI and TAFI. Babla stated, “We are already doing certain road shows. We have also got some hotel partners. From next year, we are looking at participating in trade shows. The response from India has been excellent, because Indians know this as a new destination. We have seen a good rise in enquiries.”
Inviting investments from India across diversified sectors, a presentation was made to hint at trade and investment possibilities. “The amount of trade between India and Tanzania is around US$ 4 billion, and we want to increase that. We are also looking at investments from India, for which, we are looking at direct interaction with Indian corporate and chamber of commerce. India is a good market for us.”
