Tanzania Tourist Board looks at destination Branding
Looking at creating a positive image for Tanzania tourism and increasing awareness with more recognition among other African safari competitors, the Tanzania Tourist Board is looking at a new marketing brand that would suit this African destination more than the current one in use.
Destination branding for Tanzania’s tourism started way back during the past decades when tourism marketing and hotel business were all placed under the management of the Tanzania Tourist Corporation before its dissolution to the current Tanzania Tourist Board.
Under the dissolved Tanzania Tourist Corporation, Tanzania marketed and campaigned through a branding slogan of “Tanzania: The Land of Kilimanjaro.”
But since 1993 when the Tanzania Tourist Board was established by the Act of Parliament to undertake marketing and promotion of destination Tanzania, the branding slogan changed to “Tanzania: The Land of Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar,” as a genuine strategy to market wildlife and beaches of the Indian Ocean Island of Zanzibar.
The branding slogan later changed to “Tanzania: Unsurpassed Africa,” then “Tanzania: Authentic Africa,” and finally the current one in use, “Tanzania: The Land of Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar, and the Serengeti.”
With the growing demand for more markets to match out with the sharp increase of tourists booking this African safari destination, there has been a need for a new branding slogan to suit the current global market and establish the kind of an experience that the visitor can expect from this African safari destination.
Now the management of the board is looking for public ideas in creating a new branding slogan that would differentiate the destination from competitors, increase awareness and recognition, create a positive image, and give a strong and compelling brand identity for the destination Tanzania, being one of the primary functions of a country’s tourism board.
The Tanzania’s Tourism Destination Branding initiative and the proposed destination brand will be an inclusive brand for the United Republic of Tanzania, while a branding slogan is expected to be the loudest voice in communicating a country (Tanzania) than would other brands such as economic, industrial, or political ones could voice.
Destination branding had involved five phases, which are image investigation, analysis and strategic recommendations, brand identity development, brand design, brand launch, and communication and brand management.
Image Investigation survey questionnaires were administered to non-residents at designated airports, hotels, and other tourist areas in the capital city of Dar es Salaam, the northern tourist-hub city of Arusha and the Indian Beach island of Zanzibar.
Other survey questionnaires were distributed to Tanzanian diplomatic offices in Russia, Japan, USA, Germany, India, Belgium, Canada, China, France, South Africa, and the UK, which are key and leading tourist markets for Tanzania. Other questionnaires are being administered at travel shows.
Some key tourist assets and attractions which portray Tanzania’s greatness are the Ngorongoro Crater – the Eighth Wonder of the World, and the largest unbroken caldera in the world; Mount Kilimanjaro – the highest free-standing mountain in the world; Selous Game Reserve – the largest game reserve in Africa; and the Serengeti National Park, which boasts over five million big African mammals.
Other attractions in Tanzania are Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile and the largest lake in Africa; and the second largest fresh water lake in the world, Lake Tanganyika – the deepest and the longest lake in Africa.