Nearly 700,000 tourists who visit the legendary Tanzania northern tourist circuit annually, explore the Serengeti and have been fascinated by its millions of wildebeest, each driven by the same ancient rhythm, fulfilling their instinctive role in the inescapable cycle of life.

From the sprawling Serengeti plains to the champagne-colored hills of Masai Mara, over 1.4 million wildebeests and 200,000 zebra and gazelle, relentlessly tracked by Africa’s great predators, migrate in a clockwise fashion over 1,800 miles each year in search of rain-ripened grass.

There is no real beginning or end to a wildebeest’s journey. Its life is an endless pilgrimage, a constant search for food and water. The only beginning is at the moment of birth.

The lifting of travel restrictions and vaccinations across the world is giving a bullish outlook for Tanzania’s tourism industry, which has seen its earnings from tourism at an 11-year low, official data shows.

Tanzania’s tourism earnings took a hit in the past 2 years as the world imposed travel restrictions to avoid spread of the viral COVID-19 pandemic.

Bank of Tanzania (BOT) reports show that tourism earnings dropped to the 11-year low of $795.8 million in the year to May 31, 2021, down from $2.095 billion in the year to May 31, 2020.

The last time when tourism earnings registered at below $800 million was in the year to May 31, 2010, when they reached $790 million.

This, BOT says, is attributed to a 56 percent year-on-year drop in the number of international tourists who visited the country in the year to May 31, 2021. The number of international arrivals declined to 589,570 from 1,341,958 in the year to May 31, 2020, BOT says.

However, there could be a light at the end of the tunnel if the figures for last May are anything to write home about. In May 2021, services receipts increased to $189.6 million, compared to $109.7 million in May 2020, attributed to an increase in travel receipts.

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