Tanzania’s $44 Travel Insurance: How Much Could the New Scheme Collect?

By Camptrek · Information as of 21 September 2026 · 10-minute read

Tanzania’s new inbound travel insurance framework comes with a simple price tag: $44 per eligible foreign visitor. But how much could that add up to?

Using 2025 mainland visitor numbers, reported tourism data and several clearly stated assumptions, our model puts the potential annual premium pool at roughly $56–81 million, with a base case of about $67 million. That is our own estimate, not an official government revenue forecast.

There is also a second, quieter question. How is that premium pool administered, how much is paid out in claims and operating costs, and how are the scheme’s financial flows ultimately allocated? We look at both questions below, and then at what it all means if you are planning a safari.

What Tanzania’s law says

The requirement comes from the country’s own legislation. The Finance Act, 2025 (Part XIV, section 63) inserted a new section 134A into the Insurance Act. It says a foreigner entering Mainland Tanzania through land, seaport or airport shall, upon arrival, purchase an inbound travel insurance policy priced at the Tanzanian shilling equivalent of 44 US dollars.

The implementing rules, the Insurance (Inbound Travel Insurance) Regulations, 2026, were published in Government Notice No. 256 of 4 September 2026, according to Visasupdate.

Is the $44 requirement already being enforced?

Not yet, as far as we can tell. The regulations were published on 4 September 2026, but People Daily reports that the operational start date has not been announced.

Several practical details are also still open, according to Visasupdate: how online purchase will work, how insurance will be verified at the border, and how the mainland scheme will coordinate with Zanzibar’s separate one. The Daily News has reported that NIC met the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority to coordinate implementation across airports, seaports and land borders.

Timelines have slipped before. The scheme was first floated for the 2025/26 financial year, and the Kenya Association of Travel Agents reported that implementation was delayed to January 2026 for consultation. The safe approach is to assume the $44 will apply and check again shortly before you travel.

How much could Tanzania collect?

Mainland Tanzania welcomed 2.29 million international visitors in 2025 and earned $4,410.6 million from tourism, according to TanzaniaInvest. Divide one by the other and you get roughly $1,926 in tourism earnings per international arrival. The $44 premium is about 2.3% of that figure. This is an economy-wide average, not what each individual traveller spends.

Two more numbers shape the calculation. Average spend per person per night on the mainland rose to $289 in 2025, from $243 in 2024. And because EAC and SADC residents are exempt, a large share of arrivals will not pay. In January–May 2025, Kenya, Burundi, Zambia and DRC accounted for 224,033 of 794,102 arrivals, or 28.2%, so we model an exempt share of 25–35%.

Notes: the 7% growth in the optimistic case mirrors 2025’s rise in mainland arrivals, from 2.14 million to 2.29 million. Shilling values use about TSh 2,691 per dollar, implied by The Citizen’s March 2026 report that $44 equals Sh118,404; the real rate will vary. The law exempts residents of EAC and SADC states, while our arrivals data is by nationality, so the exempt share is an approximation. Zanzibar is excluded because it runs its own scheme. Applying the base case to 2026 arrivals at the same growth rate would lift it to about $72 million.

Zanzibar provides a reality check

Zanzibar has run a similar mandatory scheme since 1 October 2024, charging $44 per visitor and $22 for EAC members, so its real-world collections are the best test of our model. The reported figures do not tell one consistent story.

Take the middle row. Zanzibar received 654,880 international arrivals in 2025 according to TanzaniaInvest. Eight months of that, at $44 each, comes to about $19.2 million, close to the $20 million reported. So the arithmetic works when nearly everyone pays.

The other two rows point lower. At $1 million a month, Zanzibar would collect about $12 million a year, roughly 42% of its $28.8 million ceiling (654,880 × $44). And Sh41 billion by March 2026 is less than the Sh53.27 billion reported nine months earlier. We could not reconcile these figures, and we have not tried to force them into one clean dataset. Instead, we use Zanzibar’s weakest reading as the stress test for the mainland.

Officials in Zanzibar have also acknowledged compliance problems. In May 2025 the finance minister said, “Some people are still resistant, including government officials.”

The money is not the same as revenue

A premium pool is not government revenue, and it is not profit. Insurers pay claims, cover operating costs and may share income with partners.

In Zanzibar’s first period, claims of $1.59 million were paid against $20 million collected, a payout of about 8%. If the mainland matched that, the base case would leave roughly $62 million after claims and before operating costs. We would expect a higher claims ratio on the mainland, because evacuations from remote parks and mountain treks cost more than a beach stay. That is our inference, not a reported figure.

Who administers and receives the money is also still being defined. The policy is issued by NIC or partner insurers, and no revenue projection has been published. NIC says on its website that it was founded in 1963 and nationalised in 1967, though it does not state its current shareholding. In Zanzibar, The Citizen reports the funds support health services in eleven hospitals and a new Zanzibar Health Services Fund. The more interesting questions for the mainland are how the pool will be administered, how much goes to claims and costs, and how the remainder is allocated.

The competitiveness question

The base-case premium pool equals about 1.5% of the mainland’s $4.41 billion in tourism earnings. Put differently, losing around 35,000 visitors, or 1.5% of arrivals at roughly $1,926 each, would offset that amount in visitor spending. This is a rough economy-wide comparison, since premiums and spending do not reach the same recipients.

Operators have raised the risk. In June 2025, Arusha tour operators warned the fee “could make Tanzania less competitive”, noted that many travellers already hold private cover, and asked for clear online purchase options to avoid delays at entry points.

What it means for safari travellers

• Budget for it. Plan on $44 per foreign visitor for a mainland trip. We have not found published guidance on children’s rates, so check before you travel.
• Keep proof of purchase. Border checks may deny entry without valid cover, so keep the policy document on your phone and in print.
• Know the residence rule. The exemption applies to residents of EAC and SADC states. As we read the wording, an international tourist who transits through Nairobi is not exempt, while a Kenya-resident traveller is.
• Combining a safari with Zanzibar? Zanzibar has its own scheme, in force since October 2024. It is not yet clear how the two will be coordinated, so confirm before departure.
• Keep your own comprehensive insurance. The mandatory policy is basic emergency cover with limits set per policy. The sources we reviewed do not say whether a private policy can substitute for it, so treat the $44 as an additional cost until told otherwise. For trekking, remote camps and long overland routes, higher evacuation limits are worth having.
• Check again before departure. Start dates, purchase channels and border procedures are still being finalised.

Kenya, mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar: three different systems

If your route crosses the region, you may meet three different rules.

Frequently asked questions

The bottom line

On 2025 numbers, our model puts potential annual premiums from mainland visitors at about $67 million, within a range of $56–81 million and with a stress-test floor near $42 million. The ceiling, if every visitor paid, is $100.8 million.

Three caveats matter. There is no official start date or revenue forecast. The exempt share is our estimate from the arrivals mix. And Zanzibar’s reported collections do not agree with each other, which is why our range is wide. The number to watch after launch is compliance: if the mainland tracks Zanzibar’s best reading, $67 million is realistic; if it tracks the worst, expect closer to $42 million.

Sources

All pages below were opened and read on 21 September 2026. The calculations and estimates are our own.

1. The Finance Act, 2025 (No. 11), Tanzania Revenue Authority. Part XIV, section 63, inserting section 134A into the Insurance Act.
2. Tanzania mandatory travel insurance 2026: New regulations, coverage details & updates, Visasupdate.
3. Tanzania introduces $44 mandatory insurance for foreign visitors, Web Rwanda, September 2026.
4. Tanzania vs Kenya visitor insurance: What the Ksh5,700 and Ksh6.48M rules mean for travellers, People Daily.
5. Tanzania’s Mandatory KSh5,700 Travel Insurance: Who Pays, How Long It Lasts, And What It Covers, The Kenya Times.
6. NIC, TCAA to enforce mandatory inbound travel insurance, Daily News.
7. Tanzania rolls out mandatory travel insurance for foreign nationals, Kenya Association of Travel Agents.
8. Tanzania Tourism Earnings Reach USD 4.41 Billion in 2025, TanzaniaInvest.
9. Tanzania Tourist Arrivals Reach 794,102 in Jan–May 2025, TanzaniaInvest.
10. Zanzibar collects Sh16 billion from mandatory visitor insurance, The Citizen, 23 May 2025.
11. Zanzibar’s travel insurance collects $20 million, The Citizen, 8 June 2025.
12. Zanzibar collects $1m monthly from visitor mandatory travel insurance, The Citizen, 12 March 2026.
13. Tanzania Proposes Compulsory Travel Insurance for International Visitors, Travel And Tour World, 21 June 2025.
14. About NIC Tanzania, National Insurance Corporation.

This article is general information, not legal or insurance advice. Rules may change; confirm current requirements with official Tanzanian sources or your insurer before you travel.