Climbers beware — Mount Kilimanjaro is no longer the biggest obstacle in Tanzania.
Tanzania, which is home to the world’s tallest freestanding mountain and the Great Migration of Wildebeest, is now under a high caution of travel advisory in several countries around the world.
Before and after Tanzania’s presidential election on 29 October, the country experienced violent political unrest.
It came in response to outrage against the incumbent president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, who had little opposition as her rivals were either imprisoned or banned from running. Election observers from the southern African regional body SADC said in a majority of areas “voters could not express their democratic will,” according to the BBC.
The ongoing violent demonstrations are suspected to have led to hundreds of killings.
The Local government implemented a curfew from 6 pm to 6 am on 28 October, which remains in place on the mainland. Supermarkets are running low on food due to the closure of Dar es Salaam port, and internet connections have also reportedly been down. Some international and domestic flights have been cancelled, and no ferries running from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar have been disrupted.
As a result, several countries have issued warnings against all but essential travel to the country.
Tanzania hits record high tourism in 2024
The East African country attracts thousands of tourists a year, from daring hikers to nature lovers. Tanzania saw a record high of over 5 million tourists in 2024. Two million of these visitors were international tourists.
Tanzania’s famous Serengeti National Park boasts a wealth of wildlife like giraffes, elephants, rhinos and wild dogs. The park attracted 589,300 visitors last year, making it the country’s biggest tourist attraction.
Europeans represented the largest group of tourists visiting Tanzania in 2024.
15 countries around the world account for 80 per cent of Tanzania’s visitors, according to the 2024 International Visitors’ exit report released in May. Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Spain and Germany make up roughly 36 per cent of those visitors.
The Zanzibar islands, a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa, remain one of the more popular destinations, attracting Europeans with its crystal waters and stunning beaches.
The majority of respondents visiting the country or Zanzibar were there for leisure or holidays, though the survey was conducted in August of 2024 during peak tourist season.
EU countries issue travel alerts
Between 30 October and 3 November, countries across the European Union began updating their travel advice, warning people visiting Tanzania to be cautious. While messages varied, countries like Denmark, Bulgaria, and Italy urged their civilians to “avoid non-essential travel” to Tanzania, while others, like France and Austria, warned those in Tanzania to stay inside.
Several countries outside of the EU have issued official statements on the situation in Tanzania, including Canada, Norway and the United Kingdom in a joint statement.
The EU followed the same sentiment in its statement on Monday, while also noting “the lack of level playing field in the run up to the elections” and highlighting its relationship with Tanzania through the Samoa Agreement, which connects the EU with 77 countries that make up the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States.
Some countries vocalised the warning more than others. Latvia, for example, only had four travellers register their Tanzania trip in the Consular Registry of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Latvia in 2025, not including travel agencies. As Latvia is unrepresented in the country, travellers are invited to follow the recommendations of other EU countries, Diāna Eglīte, Press Secretary for Latvia’s MFA, told Euronews.
What does this mean for travellers?
Travellers should be wary before getting on a plane to Tanzania. While the warnings issued by most countries are not restrictions, most flights in and out of the country have been cancelled or delayed as a result of the public unrest, especially in Dar es Salaam.
Governments also urge passengers to check with their airlines before heading to the airport to ensure the flights have not been cancelled or delayed. The flights that are running are also likely to be fully booked.
The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), for example, advises against all but essential travel to Tanzania. It warns that your travel insurance could be invalidated if you choose to visit against its advice.
The Netherlands updated its warnings on 4 November to state that the security situation in Tanzania has become more stable, though its embassy is still closed until further notice. The Dutch have assigned Tanzania an orange warning, meaning essential travel only, for the border area between Tanzania and Mozambique, in the Mtwara region. The rest of the country is in yellow, which means “be careful, there are risks.”
Czechia sent two separate push notifications to registered travellers and is actively monitoring the situation, Mariana Wernerová, the head of the Press Unit at the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Euronews.
The civil unrest came just days after Brussels Airlines announced plans for a twice-weekly direct flight to Kilimanjaro starting in June 2026. Nico Cardone, Media Relations Manager for Brussels Airlines, told Euronews there are still eight months to determine whether the airline needs to make adjustments to its flight schedule.
“We hope the situation will calm down soon, first and foremost for the people of Tanzania who are currently suffering from the violence. At this time, there is no need to adjust our flight schedule. However, we will continue to monitor the situation closely and will adjust our operations if necessary,” Cardone said.
Generally, Brussels Airlines determines whether to continue flights based on if it is safe to operate them and whether there is sufficient demand. That means the travel advice issued by a single government is not always applicable to the operations of an airline.
“Naturally, all non-essential travel comes to a standstill during such times, but air connectivity becomes more vital than ever, our flights were the only way for humanitarian aid to reach those countries,” he said.
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