Zanzibar Mandatory Travel Insurance 2026: Price, Rules, How to Buy

Yes, you must have it. Every foreign visitor who is not a resident of Tanzania needs the government inbound travel insurance to enter Zanzibar. It costs USD 44 per adult, covers you for up to 92 days, and is sold only by the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation (ZIC) at inbound.visitzanzibar.go.tz. Since 1 October 2026, mainland Tanzania has its own version at the same price, sold by the National Insurance Corporation (NIC). You only ever need one of the two, and the place where you first land in Tanzania decides which one. Your own travel insurance does not replace it. Once the certificate is on your phone, the next thing to sort is how you get from the airport to your hotel: our Zanzibar airport transfers have fixed prices per vehicle and a driver waiting in arrivals.

Checked on 2 November 2026 by Maria Majaaliwa Thomas. These rules have changed twice in two years, so we review this page every month.

The rule in one table

Question	Zanzibar (ZIC)	Mainland Tanzania (NIC)
In force since	1 October 2024	1 October 2026
Price per adult	USD 44	USD 44 (payable in the shilling equivalent)
Length of cover	Up to 92 days from arrival	Up to 92 days from arrival, multiple entries allowed
Where to buy	inbound.visitzanzibar.go.tz	inbound.nicinsurance.co.tz
Who sells it	Zanzibar Insurance Corporation only	National Insurance Corporation, or an insurer approved to work with it
Buy before travel or on arrival?	Both are possible. Before is faster.	Both are possible. The government advises before.
Can your own travel policy replace it?	No	No
Legal basis	Zanzibar government scheme run by ZIC	Insurance (Inbound Travel Insurance) Regulations, 2026, Government Notice No. 256 of 4 September 2026

Who has to buy it, and who does not

The cover is for foreign visitors. If you hold a Tanzanian residence permit, you are outside the scheme. Everyone else on a tourist or business trip should assume they need it, including people who have visited before, people on a one night stopover in Stone Town and people arriving on a cruise or a yacht.

Adults: USD 44 each.
Children: tour operator associations report USD 22 for children aged 3 to 17, and no charge for children under 3. The portal shows the exact price when you enter each traveller's date of birth, so check it there rather than relying on any blog, this one included.
Citizens of East African Community (EAC) and SADC countries: the mainland regulations exempt residents of these partner states. ZIC has said that this exemption does not carry over automatically to Zanzibar. If you hold a Kenyan, Ugandan, South African or similar passport and you are flying straight to Zanzibar, check your status on the ZIC portal before you travel.
People with excellent private cover: you still need it. The UK Foreign Office states plainly that visitors must buy the government insurance even if they already have a personal policy.

Zanzibar policy or mainland policy: which one do you need?

This is the question we get most since October 2026, and the answer is simpler than the news reports made it sound. Buy the policy for the place where you first enter Tanzania. Both insurers and the UK Foreign Office say the same thing: one valid policy covers the whole trip, mainland and islands, for its 92 days. ZIC published a public notice on 7 October 2026 confirming that you do not need two policies for one trip and that you can re-enter Zanzibar or the mainland within the 92 days without buying again.

Your route	First entry point	Buy from
Fly from Europe or the Gulf straight to Zanzibar (ZNZ)	Zanzibar	ZIC
Fly to Nairobi, change planes, fly on to Zanzibar	Zanzibar (Kenya is not Tanzania)	ZIC
Fly to Kilimanjaro (JRO) for a safari, then fly to Zanzibar for the beach	Mainland	NIC
Fly to Dar es Salaam, then take the ferry to Stone Town	Mainland	NIC
Beach first in Zanzibar, then a safari on the mainland, then back to Zanzibar	Zanzibar	ZIC (one policy, as long as the whole trip fits in 92 days)
You bought a ZIC policy before 1 October 2026 and your trip starts on the mainland	Mainland	Your ZIC policy is accepted, according to the UK Foreign Office and ZIC

If your trip runs longer than 92 days, you need a second policy for the remaining time. The certificate cannot be extended halfway through.

How to buy the Zanzibar policy, step by step

Open the official portal at inbound.visitzanzibar.go.tz. Type the address yourself. Brokers and comparison sites cannot sell this policy, so any other website offering it is either reselling with a mark-up or not genuine.
Enter each traveller's details exactly as they appear in the passport: full name, nationality, date of birth and passport number. A typo in a passport number is the most common reason a certificate does not match at the immigration desk.
Enter your arrival date in Zanzibar. Cover starts on that date and runs for up to 92 days.
Pay by card. Each traveller gets their own certificate.
Save the certificate. It carries a QR code that immigration scans. Keep it on your phone (as a downloaded PDF, not only in your email, because the airport Wi-Fi is not always quick) and carry one printed copy per person.

You can buy it on arrival too, at the insurance desk before immigration. It works, but it adds a queue at the exact moment a long-haul flight lands. Five minutes at home saves you that wait.

What the policy covers, and what it does not

The government cover is an emergency policy. It is there so that a visitor who is hurt or falls ill can be treated, moved or flown home without the island's health system carrying the cost.

Covered, subject to the policy terms:

Emergency medical treatment. The Zanzibar policy is widely reported with a limit of USD 50,000, including treatment linked to epidemics and pandemics.
Emergency medical evacuation and transport.
Repatriation, including repatriation of remains.
Some cover for checked luggage, lost or stolen travel documents, personal accident and personal liability. NIC also lists emergency dental care and certain legal expenses for its mainland policy.

Not covered, or not the purpose of this policy:

Trip cancellation or cutting your holiday short.
Missed connections, delayed flights or a tour operator going out of business.
Treatment once you are back home.
Pre-existing conditions and routine check-ups, in most cases.
Anything that happens before you enter Tanzania, including on the flight in.

The premium is generally non-refundable. The mainland regulations allow a refund only on cancellation or where the policy terms say so. Read the policy wording on the portal before you pay if you have a specific concern, such as diving or a medical condition.

Why you still want your own travel insurance

We tell every guest the same thing: the government policy gets you through the door, your own policy protects your money and your plans. They do different jobs.

Situation	Government policy (ZIC or NIC)	Your own travel insurance
You break an ankle on the beach	Yes, emergency treatment	Usually yes, often with higher limits
You need a medical flight to Nairobi or home	Evacuation and repatriation are listed	Usually yes, check the limit
You fall ill before departure and cancel	No	Usually yes
Your connecting flight is cancelled and you lose a safari night	No	Often yes
Scuba diving accident	Check the wording	Only if diving is declared and covered
Required to enter Zanzibar	Yes	No

If you plan to dive or kitesurf, check that your private policy names those activities. Many standard policies exclude them or cap the depth.

What happens at the airport

At Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (ZNZ), the insurance check comes before immigration. An officer scans the QR code on your certificate or checks it against your passport. If you do not have one, you are sent to the insurance desk to buy it before you can queue for your visa or passport stamp. The regulations allow officers to refuse entry to a foreign visitor without valid cover, though in practice the airport desk exists so that does not happen.

Our step by step guide to arriving at Zanzibar airport explains the whole sequence, from the aircraft door to your driver, including where the insurance check sits.

The other papers you need for the same trip

Insurance is one of four checks you pass on arrival. Getting all four ready at home turns a long arrival into a short one.

Visa. Most visitors need one. The Tanzanian e-visa covers both the mainland and Zanzibar and is issued at visa.immigration.go.tz. The ordinary single entry tourist visa is USD 50. US citizens must take the multiple entry visa at USD 100. Applications can take up to ten days, so apply at least two weeks ahead. Single entry visas are also issued on arrival at the main airports.
Passport. It must be valid for at least six months after you arrive and have at least one blank page.
Health declaration. Because of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and cases in Kenya, Tanzania tightened health checks in October 2026. Mainland Tanzania's Travel Advisory No. 18 of 17 October 2026 requires every arriving traveller to complete the online Traveller's Health Surveillance Form at afyamsafiri.moh.go.tz. Zanzibar runs its own health portal at healthtravelznz.mohz.go.tz, where travellers arriving from or through the DRC, Uganda or Kenya must declare, and every arriving passenger has a temperature check. If you connect through Nairobi, fill in the Zanzibar form. These advisories are reviewed often, so check both portals in the week you fly.
Yellow fever certificate. Required if you are one year or older and arrive from a country with yellow fever risk, or after a layover of more than 12 hours in one. Kenya and Ethiopia are on that list, so a long Nairobi or Addis Ababa layover counts. A short connection that stays airside does not.

From my years at the check-in counter

Before I started V Tours and Safaris I spent ten years at the Coastal Aviation office in Zanzibar, in reservations, at check-in and in dispatch, and then three years running the Safarilink branch here. Most of the trips I saw go wrong did not go wrong because of anything dramatic. They went wrong because of one missing document: a visa type that did not match the passport, a ticket read the wrong way, a form nobody mentioned.

The insurance rule is now one more of those documents. That is why, before you pay us anything, we check your flights, luggage limits, visas, insurance and timings against the route you are actually taking. If you start on a Kilimanjaro safari and finish on the beach, we tell you to buy from NIC. If you land in Zanzibar first, ZIC. It takes us a few minutes and it saves the kind of airport afternoon nobody wants.

Frequently asked questions

Is Zanzibar travel insurance really mandatory?

Yes. It has been compulsory for foreign visitors since 1 October 2024, and mainland Tanzania added its own requirement on 1 October 2026. Immigration checks it before you reach the visa desk.

How much is the Zanzibar insurance?

USD 44 per adult for up to 92 days. Reduced prices are reported for children aged 3 to 17, and no charge for children under 3. The portal shows the exact amount for each traveller.

Do I need both the Zanzibar and the Tanzania insurance?

No. One policy covers the whole trip. Buy from ZIC if you enter Tanzania in Zanzibar first and from NIC if you enter the mainland first.

Can I buy the insurance at Zanzibar airport?

Yes, there is an insurance desk before immigration. Buying online before you fly is quicker and avoids an extra queue after a long flight.

Does my credit card or annual travel policy count?

No. Only the government policy sold by ZIC or NIC is accepted at the border. Keep your own policy too, because the government cover does not refund cancelled trips or missed flights.

I am staying 4 months. What do I do?

Each policy lasts up to 92 days. Buy a second policy to cover the days after the first one ends.

Is the ZIC certificate checked when I leave?

The check happens on arrival. Keep the certificate until you fly home anyway, because you need it if you make a claim and if you travel between the mainland and the islands.

Official sources

Zanzibar Insurance Corporation inbound portal: inbound.visitzanzibar.go.tz
National Insurance Corporation inbound portal: inbound.nicinsurance.co.tz
Ministry of Finance notice on mainland inbound insurance, published by the Embassy of Tanzania in Rome (27 September 2026)
National Insurance Corporation explanation of the scheme: nicinsurance.co.tz
UK Foreign Office, Tanzania entry requirements: gov.uk
Tanzania e-visa portal and fees: visa.immigration.go.tz
US CDC, yellow fever entry rules for Tanzania: cdc.gov

Questions about your own route? Send us your flight plan on WhatsApp or through our trip planner, and we will tell you which policy to buy and what else to have ready.