Germany, South Africa lead in Zanzibar’s tourist arrivals in May

The statistics released by the Office of the Chief Government Statistician highlight a continued rebound in Zanzibar’s tourism industry, with European tourists remaining the dominant market.

Europe accounted for 53.9 percent of all visitors in May, with Germany leading the pack at 10.8 percent of total arrivals. South Africa followed at 6.3 percent, while New Zealand recorded the lowest market share at just 0.3 percent.

The majority of tourists, 88.1 percent or 32,634 people, arrived via air travel, including 25,122 through international flights and 7,512 via domestic connections.

Another 4,404 visitors came through seaports, including 38 cruise passengers and 4,366 arriving by ferry from the Tanzania mainland.

Leisure travel remained the primary driver of tourism. An overwhelming 99.2 percent of visitors in May came for holidays, while only 0.7 percent visited friends and relatives, and a mere 0.1 percent came for other reasons.

In terms of gender, men made up the majority of arrivals at 56.2 percent (20,825), while women accounted for 43.8 percent (16,213). Compared to April, the number of male visitors increased by 5.3 percent, whereas female visitors dropped by 6.6 percent.

Most visitors were within the working age group of 15 to 64 years, comprising 90 percent of arrivals. Children under 15 years made up 3.6 percent, and seniors aged 65 and above accounted for 6.4 percent.

Emerging markets showed significant growth, with visitor numbers from countries such as Poland, India, Russia, Israel, China, and Ukraine rising by 60.8 percent compared to May 2024.

Notably, Ukrainian arrivals surged by 219.3 percent, while Israeli visitor numbers jumped by over 272 percent year-on-year despite a sharp month-to-month drop.

Tourist stays also followed a clear pattern, with 25.8 percent of visitors staying for seven days—the average intended length of stay for May.

However, despite the increased arrivals, bed occupancy remained relatively low. Of the 913,911 available bed spaces in the month, only 258,684 were used, translating to a bed occupancy rate of 28.3 percent.

As Zanzibar continues to attract tourists from both traditional and emerging markets, the challenge now lies in boosting infrastructure and promoting longer stays to improve bed occupancy and revenue generation.