Tourism lab programme report

Executive Summary

Zanzibar is home to a diverse range of natural attractions and cultural heritage, attracting tourists from around the world over the last twenty-five years. However, this first generation of tourism has not grown as strongly as it could have done and has not been properly linked with the rest of the economy. Furthermore, many Zanzibaris have not benefitted from tourism and the industry has had some negative environmental and social consequences. Therefore the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar aims to move to a second generation of tourism that cares for and respects residents, protects the natural environment, celebrates cultural diversity and social values and shares unique and rich experiences with visitors while providing a leading role in economic growth and employment.

In February and March 2014, sixty leading representatives from across government, NGOs and the private sector came together for the Tourism Lab as part of the Results for Prosperity Initiative. The Lab went through several phases in analysing the current situation of tourism in Zanzibar, coming up with solutions before refining these into the detailed Multisectoral Tourism Development Programme (MTDP) described in this report. The Lab approach was distinctive due to its focus on participation, intense debate and inclusion of budgets, individual actions and key performance indicators.

While tourism is already an important part of the economy, the sector faces numerous challenges. The MTDP offers implementable solutions. The products offered should be of a higher quality and move further beyond sun, sand and sea. Marketing could be better coordinated to reflect the full richness of Zanzibar and take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the internet. Infrastructure needs to upgraded and expanded to satisfy growing demand while transport hubs such as airports and seaports should be modernised to improve access. Security should be given a high priority as a foundation of success in tourism. Likewise, we should not forget the importance of the natural environment in attracting tourists to Zanzibar and should do our utmost to conserve this priceless asset. Tourism in Zanzibar should benefit local communities through employment in the sector as well as linkages with farmers and other producers. To enable all of this, tourism governance should be updated to reflect these new priorities and ensure the government can properly support a growing sector.

This document is a broad framework that provides strategic direction and guidance to grow and develop tourism in Zanzibar, to maximise the tourism sector’s contribution to the growth and development of Zanzibar economy. It provides a structural framework for the development, management and monitoring of tourism in the country with the aim of pre-empting problems, mitigating impacts, fostering equitable relationships between stakeholders and inter sectoral cooperation.

Implementation of the MTDP should enable Zanzibar to increase annual tourist arrivals from around 270,000 in 2013 to over 500,000 in 2020, while simultaneous increases in spending per tourist and length of stay would more than quadruple total tourist expenditure to US$2.6 billion. This would be truly transformative for Zanzibar.