Highlights of Swahili International Tourism Expo

Swahili International Tourism Expo 2022

Promoting Tanzania as a Leisure & Adventure Travel Destination

The 6th Edition of Swahili international Tourism Expo (S!TE) was successfully held in Tanzania’s commercial city of Dar-es-Salaam from 21st - 23rd October 2022 at the mlimani city conference centre and was officially graced by the Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania philip mpango.

The three-day exhibition focused on inbound and outbound travel to and within Africa. S!TE aims at drawing a lot of tourism and travel professional from all over the world.

The event was aimed at promoting Tanzania’s tourism to international markets and also facilitate linking of companies based in Tanzania, Eastern and Central Africa with tourism companies from other parts of the world.

While the inaugural edition of the fair received a mixed bag of comments right from the organisers to the showgoers to the exhibitors, this year’s show has received a massive thumbs up from literally everyone. Credit goes to the organisers of the event, especially the Tanzania Tourism Board (TTB) for setting up a not only a wonderful trade show, but going as far as attracting a growing number of hosted buyers and exhibitors that meant business and were keen on engaging with the business community within the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors across Tanzania and the entire region.

Tanzanian Vice President Philip Mpango officially opened the 6th edition of the Swahili International Tourism Expo and pledged the government’s continued improvement of the country’s infrastructure of tourism services.

Speaking at the official opening of SITE 2022, Pindi Chana, the minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, said the Swahili International Tourism Expo was established in 2014 to promote Tanzania’s tourist attractions and investment opportunities. It is a part of the implementation of a tourism marketing strategy to attract tourists to visit destination Tanzania and increase tourism contribution to the country’s economy.

S!TE 2022 is held after a hiatus of two years because of COVID-19. This year’s expo features business exhibitions, investment forums and seminars, speed-networking

sessions, cultural performances, and familiarisation trips to unique tourist attractions across Tanzania.

S!TE 2022 was attended by more than 200 domestic and overseas exhibitors, over 100 international buyers from within and outside Africa, and more than 5,000 trade visitors. The expo has attracted stakeholders in the tourism industry from countries including China, Indonesia, India, the United Kingdom, Oman, Mozambique, Malawi, Algeria and Zimbabwe.

S!TE 2022 also hosted its first-ever Investment Forum to bring together investors from both public and private sectors. They will share knowledge and experiences on the business and investment climate in Tanzania, and investment opportunities with potential investors around the world. The forum was jointly organised by Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority (ZIPA), Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB), and Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF).

The expo was also characterised by a set of cultural performances from renowned and celebrated African artistes, who helped fan the theme of the expo even further, leaving the invited guests, buyers and exhibitors practically amazed.

S!TE 2023 plans to have an even more successful event next year, and hopes to enhance the cultural aspect of tourism even further. S!TE also hopes to have more regional tourism organisations and associations participate.

A well-managed hosted buyer program showcased the travel possibilities in Tanzania – within & beyond the well-known attractions in 16 national parks, around Mount Kilimanjaro and on the beautiful beach Islands of Zanzibar and Mafia. Seminars on Conservation & sustainable tourism, as well as tropical tourism and travelling within East Africa, were additional subjects of promotion at S!TE 2022.