DAR ES SALAAM, July 27 (Xinhua) -- A Tanzanian government official said on Saturday the number of tourists visiting the east African nation has risen from 1.3 million in 2017 to 1.5 million in 2018.

Adolf Mkenda, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, said following the rise, tourist activities generated 2.4 billion U.S. dollars from 2.3 billion dollars earned in 2017.

Releasing the ministry's latest tourism statistics at a news conference in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, Mkenda said the top 15 tourist markets accounted for 71.8 percent of total visitors with the United States of America taking the lead accounting for 15.6 percent, followed by Kenya and the United Kingdom.

The tourism sector recorded 25 percent of earned foreign currency that contributed to 17 percent of the gross domestic product, said the official.

He said the statistics were collected by the ministry in 2018 in collaboration with the Bank of Tanzania, National Bureau of Statistics, Immigration Department and the Zanzibar Commission for Tourism.

"The rise in tourist arrivals is largely explained by the ongoing extensive promotional efforts coupled with beautiful tourist attractions in the country," he said. Enditem

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