Zanzibar is closing in on a tourism milestone. The island welcomed 917,167 international visitors in 2025, up 24.5% on the previous year. Often sold in the trade as “what Bali used to be”, its appeal rests partly on what mass tourism hasn’t touched yet. As visitor numbers climb and new developments take shape, Mohammed Hersi believes Zanzibar needs to think carefully about what comes next.

Ahead of this year’s Essence of Africa, we spoke to Mohammed Hersi, Group Director of Operations at Pollmans Tours & Safaris and a member of the Essence of Africa advisory panel, about overtourism, growth and what the island can learn from elsewhere in the region.

There has been growing discussion around overtourism in Zanzibar and the Maasai Mara. Do you think that is the right word for what is happening?

Not yet, not in Zanzibar or the Mara. Overtourism is too many visitors crowding one small place. Infrastructure buckles. Locals start seeing tourists as a nuisance, not a guest. The Mara isn’t there, except in peak season. July, August, September, you’ll count 20, 30, 40 vehicles around one pride of lions. Fifty parked along the river for a crossing. That’s already too many.

Zanzibar isn’t there either, but the building boom could get it there. A 400-room resort means feeding, housing and watering 1,000 people. Where’s the extra water coming from? The electricity? The waste? Get those answers wrong, and Zanzibar tips into overtourism too.

So what should Zanzibar be focusing on as tourism continues to grow?

There’s only so much an island can take, so my advice to Zanzibar is to tread carefully and push yield rather than numbers. I think Zanzibar should sit medium to upper luxury rather than chase mass numbers, because there is only one Zanzibar.

Zanzibar has stopped issuing new land leases on Pemba while it finalises planning frameworks, partly to avoid repeating the development pressure Unguja has seen. Do you think that is the right approach?

I agree with it completely. Pemba is even more delicate. It is small and it could be overrun. You can welcome development and still keep the charm of how people live and work there, because the moment you lose that, it’s gone.

Look at Lamu. They’ve kept the character and traditions of the old town, including the continued use of donkeys for transport. That’s the kind of tradition a destination should protect. If Pemba develops, it needs to be very carefully managed.

You’ve warned that Zanzibar could face greater pressure if growth isn’t managed carefully. What has that pressure looked like in the Maasai Mara?

The Mara is only about 1,500 square kilometres and new properties are still coming up. We need to make sure there is no overdevelopment to the point where wildlife and migratory routes are affected.

There’s a waste problem too. All these camps and lodges generate it, and some sit close to riverbanks. We have biodigesters and other measures, but we still have to ask ourselves what kind of destination we are building.

During the peak season, the park fee for international visitors has doubled from US$100 to US$200. Has that solved the problem of too many vehicles chasing one leopard or one cheetah? No. We still see 40 or 50 vehicles surrounding a leopard that has been struggling to get a kill and then cannot even eat in peace. A cheetah that cannot hunt in peace cannot feed its young. Is that sustainable? Certainly not.

Is part of the problem the way the Mara has been marketed around the wildebeest migration?

That is one of the mistakes we made in Kenya. When the migration was declared the one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, initially we celebrated it. In retrospect, I think it was a bad thing, because it reduced the Maasai Mara to a three-month destination.

Suddenly everybody wants to visit during those months. But it is a natural phenomenon. You can stay there for two weeks and not witness a crossing, or you can spend two hours and witness three. It doesn’t run on a schedule. Responsible DMCs are trying to use other images and other stories, because we don’t want to reduce the Mara to the migration alone.

Could changing the way the Mara is priced help spread demand across the year?

Yes. We should review the seasons. During those three peak months, perhaps the rate should be even higher. The US$200 fee is clearly not enough of a deterrent. Maybe it goes to US$300, US$350 or even US$400. You spend two nights, then move on and let others come in.

Then make other periods more affordable and encourage people to experience the Mara outside the migration season. It is quiet, it is lush, and it can be one of the most beautiful times to visit. The mistake is concentrating everybody into the same destination at the same time.

Whose responsibility is it to prevent that, government, private sector or communities?

It has to be all three, but policy has to lead. A responsible tourism industry has to balance profit, people and planet. Investors naturally want a return on their money, but government has a very big role to play, because it has to set the boundaries. Once you lose the natural environment, you cannot simply get it back.

Government needs to set the zoning plan and make sure it’s followed. There need to be clear rules about the density of development, how much land stays green, how high you can build and where you can develop. Spell the rules out, then enforce them. Otherwise, you end up with a mess that is very difficult to undo.

Why should the wider African tourism industry care about what happens in destinations such as Zanzibar and the Mara?

The Maasai Mara is a magnet that pulls people to Kenya. Zanzibar plays a similar role in this part of the region. People come to the Mara and then add Diani or Zanzibar. Or they come to Zanzibar and add two or three days on safari in the Serengeti or Manyara. The moment these places lose their shine, the pull weakens across the board. Visitors start finding other places, and numbers can drop for Kenya and Tanzania too. We need to protect the goose that lays the golden egg.

Mohammed will be in Zanzibar this October for Essence of Africa 2026.