917,167
International arrivals, 2025
Record year, up ~25% from 2024.
Source: OCGS / Zanzibar Commission for Tourism, Dec 2025 release
Why Zanzibar
Paje is the address. Zanzibar is the market.
An island building boom with a structural problem: great demand, difficult access. Suppliers who solve the access problem — local presence, representation, delivery — win the projects. That is exactly what this programme sells.
The tourism boom in numbers
First, the prize: a record market, still climbing.
Every figure below comes from a public official source — named and dated on each card. They describe the island's market, not Zanzibaba's share of it. But they explain why global hotel brands are signing projects here right now — and why suppliers should be positioned before the pipeline becomes competition.
736,755
International arrivals, 2024
Up 15.4% from 638,498 in 2023; Europeans ~72% of visitors.
Source: OCGS Tourism Statistical Release 2024
USD 1.19B
Zanzibar tourism earnings, 2025
Up from USD 998M in 2024.
Source: Bank of Tanzania / NBS 2025 Visitors' Exit Survey
USD 274
Average spend per night, Zanzibar 2025
Average stay 6 nights; 92.9% visit for leisure. Top markets: Italy, France, UK.
Source: Bank of Tanzania / NBS 2025 Visitors' Exit Survey
2× pipeline
Zanzibar hotel pipeline doubled
From 983 rooms (2023) to 2,048 rooms (2024).
Source: W Hospitality Group via RLB Africa Hotel Insight 2025
USD 6.1B
ZIPA-registered investment since 2020
485 projects, 25,000+ jobs — tourism prioritised under Vision 2050.
Source: ZIPA via Daily News, July 2025
Global brands are already building here
Publicly reported signings — each one a multi-category procurement pipeline:
- • Iberostar Selection Muyuni Beach — 360 rooms, opening late 2026 (reported Oct 2025)
- • Canopy by Hilton Zanzibar, Fumba — 162 rooms in the BURJ Zanzibar tower (reported Jul 2025)
- • Four Seasons and Le Méridien resorts — reported well under way (Jan 2026)
- • Anantara Zanzibar Resort & Residences — 229 keys, opening 2027 (reported Jul 2025)
- • Marriott Tribute Portfolio + Swiss-Belresort — signed/planned (reported Jan 2026)
- • Golden Tulip Airport Hotel phase two — USD 14M total investment, opened Jul 2025
What one hotel bed means for suppliers
A single guest room is a basket of your categories — specified once, then repeated across hundreds of identical rooms. Partners positioned across categories get specified into whole projects, not single orders:
- • Bathroom: sanitaryware, tiles, taps, showers, water heating
- • Comfort: bed, mattress, furniture, curtains, lighting
- • Systems: air conditioning, smart locks, TV, switches, automation
- • Behind walls: plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, paint
- • Around it: aluminium windows, doors, solar, pools, landscaping
Figures from public official releases as dated. Zanzibaba does not guarantee any share of this demand — the programme buys you presence, representation and access to compete for it.
The island problem
Selling into Zanzibar from a distance is where good products go to lose.
It is rarely the product that fails — it is the absence around the product. No one to meet the client, no one to chase the quote, no one to land the goods and stand behind them on site.
An island, not a suburb
Everything crosses water: sea freight, clearing, mainland consolidation, then last-mile delivery on island roads. Miss one link and a project stalls — with your product blamed for the delay.
No local face, no trust
Developers and hotel operators buy from people they can meet, call back and hold accountable. A catalogue emailed from abroad rarely survives against a supplier with someone on the ground.
Follow-up dies with distance
Quotations need chasing, samples need delivering, sites need visiting, installers need briefing. Without local follow-up, enquiries quietly go to whoever showed up.
Delivery is the product
On an island, availability means landed, cleared and delivered to site — not ex-works. Buyers remember who delivered on pour day, not whose brochure was glossier.
Where the demand comes from
Five demand engines — all buying construction, all at once.
Hotels, resorts & hospitality
New builds, expansions and continuous refurbishment across the coasts — each one a full basket: structure, finishes, bathrooms, kitchens, furniture, energy, water, landscaping and operating supplies.
Private villas & residential
Holiday homes, rentals and owner-occupied villas drive steady demand for roofing, aluminium systems, tiles, sanitaryware, solar, pools and outdoor living — bought in project-sized packages.
Commercial & mixed-use
Shops, offices, restaurants and mixed developments in and around Stone Town and the growth corridors need complete material and systems supply with documentation.
Public & infrastructure works
Roads, schools, health facilities and utilities create pipeline demand for aggregates, cement, concrete, steel, precast and equipment — usually through structured procurement.
Renovation & retrofit
Stone Town properties, ageing hotels and villa upgrades generate constant smaller projects: waterproofing, paints, bathrooms, electrical, solar retrofits and smart upgrades.
One basket, many categories
A single hotel or villa is dozens of your categories in one order. Partners positioned across categories don't just get leads — they get specified into whole projects.
BROWSE CATEGORIESThe branch you don't have to open
Going alone means paying branch costs before earning branch revenue.
Opening your own Zanzibar operation is not just rent. It is a full cost stack — committed before you know where your buyers actually are. The Market Access Program replaces that gamble with a single annual programme: presence, representation and pipeline from day one.
What a solo branch demands first
- • Office or yard lease — before you know which coast your buyers are on
- • Local staff: sales, admin, logistics — hired before the first order
- • Stock or samples shipped blind, warehoused at your risk
- • Vehicles, fuel and drivers for site visits across the island
- • Months of learning importation, clearing and delivery the hard way
Versus one programme: digital presence, planned physical display, local sales representation, project/RFQ access and delivery coordination — starting from USD 1,200/year.
Island-wide coverage
Paje is the address. Zanzibar is the market.
The physical base may be Paje — the commercial market is all of Zanzibar. Not the East Coast. Not the South Coast. The whole island, followed up zone by zone. And the footprint is designed to grow: Paje as the proposed flagship first, with future trade centres planned for Fumba, Stone Town, the North, South, West and Centre. See the planned network →
North
Hotel and resort coastline — Nungwi, Kendwa and Matemwe hospitality projects plus Kiwengwa developments.
NungwiKendwaMatemweKiwengwa
Central / West
Stone Town renovation and commercial demand, with Mbweni, Chukwani and Fumba growth corridors.
Stone TownMbweniChukwaniFumba
East
Tourism and villa belt — Paje, Bwejuu and Michamvi hospitality, rentals and private homes.
PajeBwejuuMichamvi
South
Villas, community projects and emerging developments — Jambiani, Makunduchi and Kizimkazi.
JambianiMakunduchiKizimkazi
Who buys through the gateway
Five buyer types. Each one needs a local counterpart.
Property developers
Multi-unit projects buying in bulk with BOQs, drawings and phased delivery schedules.
Contractors & builders
Grade-by-grade concrete, steel, blocks and finishes — ordered against pour dates and programmes.
Hotel operators
Refurbishment cycles and new keys: bathrooms, furniture, kitchens, energy and operating supplies.
Architects & consultants
Specification power: they decide which systems get written into drawings — and they want datasheets, samples and local support.
Private owners
Villa clients choosing finishes, solar, pools and kitchens — they buy confidence as much as product.
Routed to you, not lost at sea
Enquiries enter Zanzibaba's system first, then get routed to relevant partners by category and programme — with your contact details protected until the opportunity is real.
SEE PROJECT ACCESSStop losing Zanzibar orders to distance.
One application. Company verification, programme selection, onboarding — then presence, representation and pipeline across the whole island.