Zanzibar from Kenya: US$44 insurance, US$90 return air fee, cheapest one-way fare about KSh 40,000

Foreign visitors to Zanzibar must buy travel insurance at US$44 (about KSh 5,700, or 296 yuan) a person, and those who fly pay a Tanzanian passenger facilitation fee of US$90 (KSh 11,700, 605 yuan) on a return ticket. Business Daily reported on 26 October that airlines have also raised fares by up to 20% this year, and that more Kenyans now go by road and ferry.

The insurance has been compulsory since 1 October 2024, according to a notice on the website of Tanzania's embassy in Japan. It is sold by the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation through visitzanzibar.go.tz and covers a stay of up to 92 days.

The facilitation fee, listed on tickets under the code VI, took effect on 1 November 2025. The Tanzanian government set it at US$45 for a one-way international journey into Tanzania and US$90 for a return trip. Airlines collect it when the ticket is sold and show it as a separate line. Infants under two are exempt, and the fee is refunded for cancelled or unused tickets. The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) says the money pays for an Advance Passenger Information System and an Electronic Border Control System.

Fares have moved as well. Fuel prices more than doubled in February after the Middle East war, and carriers raised fares by up to 20%. The cheapest one-way ticket from Kenya to Zanzibar is about KSh 40,000, roughly the price of the cheapest ticket to Johannesburg.

Jambojet has suspended its Zanzibar route. At the higher fares it struggled to fill its planes, and the route lost money that it could not recoup even in the high season. "We did our internal calculations and realised we're losing a lot of money," its chief executive, Karanja Ndegwa, said. Safarilink still flies to Zanzibar. Its chief executive, Alex Avedi, said the number of Kenyans it carries has dropped drastically and that on some days 90% or more of the passengers on its Zanzibar flights are Europeans and Americans. "We've spoken to quite a number and the issue is just taxes; it's not value for money," he said.

Kenyans are switching to the road. Commercial buses from Nairobi or Mombasa charge up to KSh 7,500 (US$57) one way to Dar es Salaam or Tanga, where travellers take a ferry. The insurance requirement has been enforced more visibly on air arrivals than on sea arrivals.

Zanzibar's statistics office recorded 12,441 Kenyan arrivals in the six months to June, up 1.6%. Air arrivals fell 1.2% to 8,851, while sea arrivals rose 9.2% to 3,590 and made up 28.9% of the total, up from 26.8%. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics puts Tanzania first among Kenyan tourists' destinations at 35%, ahead of Uganda at 19.9%.

Ridge Ragira, a 28-year-old sales executive based in Kisumu, visited Zanzibar in 2024. He said he still plans to return. "I would travel to Zanzibar every year, even with the increase in prices," he said. Sean Mendis, an aviation commentator based in Malawi and a former airline leader, said the higher costs "will absolutely hurt in the long-term".

On the supply side, Zanzibar expects 33% more airline seats over the next six months, Tourism Update reported on 23 October. The figures come from the Data Appeal-Mabrian Travel Intelligence platform and were released by the African Travel and Tourism Association at the Essence of Africa buyer forum in Zanzibar from 20 to 22 October.

The same data show weighted average online hotel rates down about 18% in the 12 months to October, and forward flight bookings up 10% for travel through March 2027. Zanzibar received 917,167 international visitors in 2025, and more than 633,000 from January to August this year, including a monthly record of over 124,000 in August.

Yuan figures use the central parity rate of 6.7220 to the US dollar published on 16 October.