Zanzibar's record year: 917,167 visitors — and an argument about whether more is better
Zanzibar received 917,167 international visitors in 2025, up 24.5% on 2024 and the highest total in its history, on official statistics. December alone brought more than 100,000 arrivals. Now operators and officials are debating whether the island should chase a million visitors — or chase higher spending per visitor instead.
Key points
- Zanzibar recorded 917,167 international arrivals in 2025, up 24.5% from 736,755 in 2024 — the highest annual total in the island's history.
- December 2025 alone brought 100,729 visitors, with bed occupancy close to 89% and more than 815,000 bed nights sold.
- August 2025 was the busiest single month on record, with 105,506 arrivals.
- Senior operators argue the island should pursue higher yield per visitor rather than raw volume, and Zanzibar has paused new land leases on Pemba while it completes planning frameworks.
What happened
Tourism accounts for roughly 30% of Zanzibar's GDP, and Europeans made up about 69.5% of 2025 arrivals, led by Italy, France and Poland, with India, Russia, Israel and China growing fast. International brands — TUI, Hilton, Minor Hotels' Anantara — are expanding capacity to meet demand, and a new US$12.9 million Azam Marine ferry has added sailings between Dar es Salaam, Unguja and Pemba.
The growth raises the classic island question in an acute form: Zanzibar's freshwater, power and waste systems serve a resident population not much larger than its new annual visitor count, and the neighbouring island of Pemba — quieter and less developed — is where the next wave of building pressure would land.
Claim by claim
Why this label: Figures from the Office of the Chief Government Statistician (OCGS) and the Zanzibar Commission for Tourism, reported consistently by the travel trade press.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Official statistical releases as reported by ATTA/VoyagesAfriq; the average intended stay was just over eight nights.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The OCGS series as compiled in a 2026 traveller-sentiment study of the island; the 2024 and 2025 points match the trade-press reporting independently.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Reported by TravelNews Africa and supported by senior operator Mohammed Hersi as a guard against repeating Unguja's development pressure on the smaller, more delicate island.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Officials celebrate the volume records; operators such as Pollmans' Mohammed Hersi argue the island belongs in the medium-to-upper luxury segment and should push yield, not numbers — warning that a 400-room resort means feeding and housing about 1,000 people a day, and that water, power and waste systems decide whether growth becomes overtourism. Both positions are shown; the statistics settle the counts, not the strategy.
On the ladder: credible sources conflict, so we show both workings. One side's own statement is that side's position — never proof.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- The arrival totals and growth rate are official OCGS figures, consistently reported.
- December 2025 occupancy ran close to 89% — the island was effectively full at peak.
What we don't know yet
- How much each visitor spent — arrival records are published faster than earnings figures, so the yield side of the argument is still missing its key number.
- Whether the Pemba lease pause will hold once the planning frameworks are complete.
Why it matters
Zanzibar is the clearest live test in African tourism of the volume-versus-value question: a small island approaching a million visitors a year, where tourism is nearly a third of the economy. The choice it makes — and whether the infrastructure keeps up — will be studied by every island and heritage destination on the continent.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
- Latest
Story published.