Zanzibar tourism hit by coronavirus fears

Zanzibar, the semi-autonomous region off the coast of Tanzania, is experiencing an economic downturn due to fears from the coronavirus.

Hotels and tourism operators are reporting widespread cancellations after the government took the step to suspend all direct flights to and from Italy.

Tourism accounts for around 80% of Zanzibar’s annual income, but the government has announced plans to boost economic activity in other sectors, such as agriculture and fishing.

The island’s rich cultural history and idyllic beaches attract over half a million visitors every year, but the streets of the capital, Stone Town, currently lie empty.

Abdulaziz Yusuf, the manager of Tembo Hotel, said “It’s going to affect us a lot because we really rely on tourism. The Italian market is a big market but in general tourism is the backbone of Zanzibar, so we are going to lose a lot”.

Around 60% of the island is financed through revenue from tourism.

The global pandemic has made lawmakers think about diversifying the island’s income, so to mitigate the impact of any similar outbreak in the future.

Hamad Rashid, Zanzibar’s Health Minister said, “We have to improve our agriculture system now using [the] beautiful rains that we have, we have to improve our fishing industry, so that we don’t depend on tourism anymore because of the risk which may happen anytime again”.

Despite not recording any positive cases of the coronavirus yet, the government has put stringent measures in place to protect the population.

“We have 192 primary health centres [with staff] trained to look for symptoms”, Rashid continued.

“We do screen and talk to business people who travel to China. It’s a small area, so it’s very easy to control”.

Photo: AFP