Thandiwe Nkosi
Every foreign non-resident visitor entering Zanzibar must buy one specific travel insurance policy before arrival: the inbound travel insurance sold only by the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation, known as ZIC, through the official portal at inbound.visitzanzibar.go.tz. The rule has applied since 1 October 2024, the headline price is US$44 per adult for cover lasting up to 92 days, and your own travel insurance, however comprehensive, does not count as a substitute. Immigration can ask for the certificate on arrival, and visitors without it can be refused entry. This explainer sets out who must buy the policy, what it costs for children and for East African and Southern African travellers, what it actually covers, and how the newer mainland Tanzania policy fits alongside it so a combined safari and Zanzibar trip does not get charged twice.
Quick Facts
- The rule: Mandatory inbound travel insurance for foreign non-resident visitors to Zanzibar, in force since 1 October 2024.
- The seller: The Zanzibar Insurance Corporation (ZIC) only. No other insurer’s policy satisfies the requirement.
- The price: US$44 per adult. Published ZIC rates put children aged 3 to 17 at US$22, children under 3 free, and travellers from East African Community and Southern African Development Community states at US$22. The portal shows the exact price for each traveller’s date of birth before you pay.
- The validity: Up to 92 days from arrival, which covers the standard 90 day tourist stay.
- Where to buy: The official portal, inbound.visitzanzibar.go.tz, before you travel. The portal warns against third party resellers.
- What it covers: Emergency based cover, centred on emergency medical treatment, medical evacuation and repatriation, with additional benefits reported for personal accident, baggage problems and lost travel documents. It is basic emergency cover, not a full holiday policy.
- Who is exempt: Residents of Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania are outside the scheme. A foreign passport with a Tanzanian residence permit is a different case from a tourist arrival, so confirm your position with ZIC if that is you.
Why does Zanzibar have its own insurance rule at all?
Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous archipelago within the United Republic of Tanzania, with its own Revolutionary Government and its own entry formalities layered on top of the Tanzanian visa system. The inbound insurance scheme is a Zanzibar instrument, run by the state owned Zanzibar Insurance Corporation, and reporting on its launch linked it to the Zanzibar Health Services Fund framework. The policy intent is practical: a visitor who falls ill or is injured on the islands can be treated, evacuated or repatriated without the cost falling on Zanzibar’s health system or becoming a consular problem. The United States Embassy in Tanzania alerted travellers to the requirement in September 2024, immediately before the 1 October 2024 start, and stressed the two points travellers still miss: the policy must come from ZIC, and it is required even from travellers who already hold another travel insurance policy.
Does the rule apply however you arrive?
Yes. The requirement follows the visitor, not the transport. Arriving at Abeid Amani Karume International Airport on a direct international flight, flying in from Dar es Salaam or Arusha on a domestic service, or taking the ferry from Dar es Salaam to Stone Town all end at a Zanzibar entry check where the certificate can be requested. It applies across the archipelago, including Pemba as well as the main island, Unguja. Pair this rule with the place itself before you go: our guide to Stone Town, Zanzibar covers the old port city most arrivals pass through first.
How do you buy the ZIC policy?
The official portal at inbound.visitzanzibar.go.tz walks through a short sequence: start the application, select the insurance type, fill in the traveller form, finalise the application and make payment, after which the cover certificate is issued. The same portal lets you check an application, verify a payment, edit application details and retrieve your cover, so a typo in a passport number can be corrected through the official route rather than through a reseller. Buy before you travel rather than on arrival. The application needs accurate passport details and travel dates, the certificate is the document immigration will want to see, and arriving with it already on your phone turns the insurance check into a few seconds. Save the certificate offline as well as in email, in the same folder as your visa approval and your yellow fever certificate if you carry one.
What does the policy actually cover?
Published descriptions of the ZIC inbound policy describe an emergency product. The core is emergency medical treatment, widely reported with a limit of US$50,000, including treatment linked to epidemics and pandemics, plus emergency medical evacuation and repatriation, including repatriation of remains. Around that core sit smaller benefits reported across the policy summaries: personal accident cover, help with lost or delayed baggage, replacement support for a lost passport, legal assistance and, in some summaries, additional accommodation nights made necessary by illness. Read those as emergency assistance, not as the generous cancellation, gadget and activity cover of a full market policy. Travellers planning diving, kitesurfing at Paje, a Kilimanjaro climb before the islands, or a safari with light aircraft should keep their own comprehensive policy in force for the trip and treat the ZIC certificate as the entry document it is. Travellers combining the islands with a mainland safari will also want our assessment of Ngorongoro Crater Lodge for the crater leg of that classic circuit.
What changed in October 2026, and do you now need two policies?
On 1 October 2026 mainland Tanzania introduced its own mandatory inbound travel insurance for foreign visitors, sold through the National Insurance Corporation, NIC, at the same US$44 headline price and the same 92 day maximum validity, under the Inbound Travel Insurance Regulations published in Government Notice No. 256 of 4 September 2026. That raised an obvious fear for anyone flying into Kilimanjaro or Dar es Salaam and then continuing to Zanzibar: two compulsory policies for one holiday. ZIC answered it in a public notice on 7 October 2026, confirming that one valid mandatory policy covers the journey and that a traveller does not need to buy twice for the same trip within its validity. The working rule reported from that notice is to buy from the insurer for your first point of entry: ZIC through the Visit Zanzibar portal if you enter through Zanzibar, NIC if you enter through the mainland. Keep the certificate for the whole journey, because it is the document that proves the point if you are asked at the second entry.
Does a Tanzanian visa replace the insurance, or the insurance the visa?
Neither. The visa and the insurance are separate requirements administered by different bodies. Most visitors still need the appropriate Tanzanian visa or visa on arrival eligibility for their nationality, arranged through Tanzania Immigration channels, and Zanzibar arrivals then add the ZIC certificate on top. Budget both, apply for both before departure where your nationality allows, and do not let a tour operator’s phrase about everything being arranged substitute for checking that the insurance certificate carries your name and passport number exactly.
Frequently Asked Questions
I already have annual travel insurance. Do I still need the ZIC policy?
Yes. The Zanzibar requirement is specific: the inbound policy must be the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation policy bought through the official portal. A policy from your home insurer, your bank or your airline does not satisfy the entry rule, whatever its medical limit. Keep your own policy too, because its cover is broader.
How much does the Zanzibar policy cost for a family?
At the published rates, two adults and two children aged 3 to 17 cost US$44 plus US$44 plus US$22 plus US$22, which is US$132 in total, with children under 3 free. The portal calculates each traveller’s price from their date of birth, so confirm the total on screen before paying.
How long does the Zanzibar insurance last?
Up to 92 days from arrival. That is designed to sit just beyond the standard 90 day tourist stay. A longer stay needs new cover when the first policy expires, and a separate later trip needs a new policy.
What happens if I arrive in Zanzibar without the policy?
You risk delay at entry and, in the strict reading of the rule, refusal of entry. Some travellers have completed purchase on arrival in the past, but the official instruction is to buy before travel, and relying on airport wifi and a card payment at the immigration desk is a poor plan. Buy it at home and carry the certificate offline.
Does the Zanzibar policy cover me on a mainland safari?
The ZIC policy is written around a stay in Zanzibar, and its emergency benefits should not be assumed to run across the mainland. Since October 2026 the mainland has its own NIC scheme, and ZIC’s October 2026 notice explains how one valid policy is treated across a combined journey. For real medical and evacuation protection on safari, your own comprehensive policy remains the important document.
Where is the official place to buy Zanzibar travel insurance?
Only the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation portal at inbound.visitzanzibar.go.tz. Sites with similar names that add fees or ask for payment through unofficial links are resellers. Type the address yourself and check the certificate names ZIC as the insurer.
Rule, price bands and portal process checked against the official Zanzibar Insurance Corporation portal at inbound.visitzanzibar.go.tz on 13 November 2026, with the 1 October 2024 start date as set out in the United States Embassy in Tanzania alert of September 2024 and the October 2026 mainland interaction as reported from ZIC’s public notice of 7 October 2026. Confirm the price for your party on the portal before paying, as rates can be revised.
