Tanzania's intensive tourism promotion campaigns in Japan have started paying dividends, with the number of Japanese visitors last year jumping more than 60 percent over two years earlier to about 12,500, according to officials here.
"We launched vigorous promotional campaigns targeting Japanese tourists in 1998 to cover the cities of Tokyo and Osaka, and this is an indication of our success," Amant Macha, senior marketing official at the Tanzania Tourist Board, told Kyodo News.
The number of Japanese tourists visiting Tanzania totaled 7,718 in 1997 and 9,600 in 1998, the officials said. By the end of this year, the country hopes to have attracted 16,000 Japanese tourists following further campaigns and exhibitions in Tokyo and Osaka.
In September, a promotional and marketing mission comprising 55 Tanzanian business executives and government officials also toured Japan to lobby its travel and leisure industry.