Travel insurance for Zanzibar

What the mandatory insurance is

Since 1 October 2024, the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar has required all foreign visitors arriving by air or sea — with limited exceptions such as residents — to hold a valid Inbound Travel Insurance policy for the duration of their stay. The policy is issued exclusively by the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation (ZIC), a government-owned insurer, and is separate from any international travel insurance you may already hold. You need both: the ZIC policy to satisfy the entry requirement, and ideally a broader personal travel insurance policy for the wider protection a standard policy offers (trip cancellation, baggage, gear, etc., which the ZIC policy is not designed to replace in full).

Cost and coverage period

Category	Typical cost
Adults	Around $44 per person
Children (roughly ages 2–17)	Around half the adult rate, commonly cited near $22
Infants under 2	Typically free or exempt

Coverage generally runs for up to 92 consecutive days from your arrival date, regardless of how long your actual visit is, and typically allows unlimited entries within that window. If your trip is longer than that, or you plan a second visit later in the year, check whether a new policy is required.

What it typically covers

• Emergency medical expenses, including certain epidemic or pandemic-related costs
• Emergency medical evacuation and repatriation
• Compulsory quarantine costs in defined circumstances
• Extension of stay if you're medically unfit to fly, sometimes including one accompanying person

This is a baseline entry-requirement policy rather than a comprehensive travel insurance product — it's not generally designed to cover things like trip cancellation, lost luggage compensation at a meaningful level, or adventure-activity exclusions the way a full international policy would. Most experienced travellers to Zanzibar carry both: the mandatory ZIC policy for entry, and their own comprehensive travel insurance for everything else — cancelled flights, stolen gear, safari-specific activities, and so on.

How to buy it

The policy can be purchased online in advance through the official Zanzibar tourism portal, where you fill in passenger details and pay by card, after which you receive a QR code confirming coverage. This QR code is typically checked alongside your passport and visa at immigration on arrival. If online payment isn't possible for a legitimate reason, purchasing at the airport on arrival has also been described as an option, though buying in advance avoids queues and is the more reliable route.

Does this replace normal travel insurance?

No. Because the mandatory ZIC policy is narrowly scoped to medical emergencies, evacuation, and related costs, most visitors are still advised to carry a separate comprehensive travel insurance policy that covers trip cancellation, delayed or lost luggage, gear (dive equipment, cameras), and activity-specific risks like diving, kitesurfing, or a safari game drive. When you're comparing personal policies, check specifically:

• Whether it covers activities you're planning — diving, kitesurfing, a fly-in safari on a light aircraft
• Whether it includes medical evacuation to a standard you'd be comfortable with, since Zanzibar's medical facilities are more limited than what many visitors are used to at home, and serious cases are often evacuated to Dar es Salaam or further afield
• Whether pre-existing conditions are covered, and to what extent
• Cancellation and curtailment cover, in case you need to cut the trip short

If you need to make a claim

Keep your policy documents (policy number, effective dates, terms) accessible throughout your trip rather than filed away at your hotel. Contact details for the ZIC inbound insurance helpline are provided with your policy on purchase — save them to your phone before you travel rather than trying to find them mid-emergency.

Why Zanzibar introduced this requirement

The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar has described the policy as intended to ensure visitors have guaranteed access to emergency medical assistance, evacuation, and repatriation support during their stay, reducing the risk of visitors facing serious medical costs without recourse, and reducing pressure on local healthcare infrastructure from uninsured emergency cases. Zanzibar isn't unique in this: a number of destinations around the world, including some in Central America and Southeast Asia, have introduced similar mandatory inbound insurance requirements for broadly comparable reasons — visitor protection and reduced strain on local emergency systems.

Step-by-step: buying the policy online

1. Visit the official Zanzibar tourism insurance portal rather than a third-party reseller, to avoid paying a markup on the government fee.
2. Enter passenger details for everyone in your travelling party who needs coverage — each traveller, including children, needs their own record.
3. Select your travel dates, which determine your coverage window (up to a maximum of 92 consecutive days per policy).
4. Pay by card.
5. Receive your confirmation, typically a QR code and policy document by email — save this to your phone and print a copy as backup, since relying solely on an email you might not have signal to access at the airport is a common and avoidable friction point.

If you already have travel insurance from home

A common question is whether an existing comprehensive travel insurance policy from your home country exempts you from Zanzibar's mandatory local policy. Based on current guidance, it generally does not — the Zanzibar requirement is a separate, mandatory local policy regardless of what other coverage you're carrying. This can feel like a duplicate cost, but the two policies serve different purposes: your home policy is typically broader (covering cancellation, baggage, and more) while the mandatory local policy is Zanzibar's specific mechanism for guaranteeing baseline medical and evacuation support is in place for every visitor, administered by a local insurer they can coordinate with directly.

Comparing the mandatory policy to a full international policy

Feature	Mandatory ZIC policy	Typical comprehensive international policy
Emergency medical expenses	Included	Included, often with higher limits
Medical evacuation/repatriation	Included	Included, often with higher limits and wider provider networks
Trip cancellation/interruption	Not a core feature	Commonly included
Lost or delayed baggage	Not a core feature	Commonly included
Adventure activity cover (diving, kitesurfing)	Not specifically designed for this	Depends on policy — check exclusions
Geographic scope	Zanzibar archipelago only	Usually your full itinerary, including the mainland safari portion

What to check on your own policy before you travel

• Activity exclusions: diving, kitesurfing, and light-aircraft safari flights are sometimes excluded or require an add-on under standard policies — read the fine print rather than assuming they're covered.
• Evacuation provider network: ask whether your insurer has an established evacuation partner with experience operating in East Africa, since this affects how smoothly a real emergency would be handled.
• Pre-existing conditions: disclose them accurately at the time of purchase; non-disclosure is one of the most common reasons claims are later denied.
• Single-trip vs annual multi-trip policies: if you travel internationally more than once a year, compare the cost of an annual policy against a single-trip one for this specific trip.

Making a claim while in Zanzibar

For the mandatory ZIC policy specifically, keep your policy documents (policy number, QR code, effective dates) accessible on your phone and in print throughout your stay, not just at check-in. In an emergency, contact the insurer's helpline as early as possible in the process — before, rather than after, seeking treatment where the situation allows, since pre-authorisation can affect how smoothly costs are handled. For your separate personal travel insurance, follow your own insurer's claims process, and keep receipts for anything you may need to claim back.

Quick answers

Is Zanzibar's mandatory insurance the same as my personal travel insurance?

No — they're separate. The mandatory policy satisfies the entry requirement; a personal policy covers the wider risks a standard travel policy handles.

Can I be denied entry without it?

Zanzibar authorities have described the insurance as mandatory for entry, though guidance on enforcement at the point of boarding versus at immigration has varied — buy it in advance to avoid any uncertainty.

Does it cover my Serengeti safari days too?

The mandatory Zanzibar policy is specific to the Zanzibar archipelago. Your broader personal travel insurance is what should cover the mainland safari portion of your trip.

How do I prove I have it at the airport?

You'll typically receive a QR code by email after purchase, which is checked alongside your passport and visa on arrival.

Does my existing annual travel insurance exempt me from buying this?

Generally no — the mandatory local policy is a separate requirement regardless of what other coverage you hold.

What if I can't pay online before I travel?

Purchasing at the airport on arrival has been described as an option for genuine access issues, though buying in advance avoids queues and uncertainty.

Is the policy refundable if my trip is cancelled?

Refund policies can vary — check the terms at the point of purchase rather than assuming standard travel-insurance cancellation rules apply.

How this fits with safari-specific risks

If your trip includes a fly-in Serengeti safari, it's worth checking your personal travel insurance specifically covers light-aircraft transfers, since safari flights typically use small charter or scheduled light aircraft rather than commercial jets, and some policies treat this category of flying differently. Similarly, if you're planning to walk on a guided bush walk, go on a night drive, or take part in other activities specific to a safari itinerary, confirm these fall within your policy's normal cover rather than being treated as an "extreme activity" exclusion — policies vary considerably on this point, and it's a five-minute check that's worth doing before you travel rather than after something goes wrong.

Frequently confused terms

• "Mandatory Zanzibar insurance" — the specific ZIC-issued policy required for entry, discussed throughout this page.
• "Travel insurance" — your own, separately purchased comprehensive policy from your home country or a specialist travel insurer, covering the broader range of risks discussed above.
• "Medical evacuation insurance" / "medevac cover" — sometimes a distinct add-on or standalone product (for example, membership-based air evacuation services used in some parts of Africa), separate again from both of the above, and occasionally worth considering for remote safari itineraries specifically.
• "Visa fee" — an entirely different, unrelated government charge covered on our Visa Requirements page.

Keeping these four categories distinct in your planning avoids the common mistake of assuming that paying one automatically satisfies the others.