Rwanda’s Kwita Izina Kicks Off in Kigali

The 2017 Rwanda Kwita Izina ceremony officially kicked off on Sunday with a two day conservation and tourism exhibition at the Kigali Conference and Exhibition village.

The event was opened to the public yesterday amid strong emphasis of the tourism industry to the Rwandan economy.

Kwita Izina is an annual special event in the neighboring country held to give names to new born gorillas. It is named after the ancestral baby naming ceremony that happened after the birth of a newborn.

The ceremony’s main goal is in helping monitor each individual gorilla and their groups in their natural habitat.

Speaking at the opening exhibition event, François Kanimba, the Rwandan Minister of Trade and East Africa Community Affairs, said the exhibition is meant to show case culture and the national treasures Rwanda has.

“This is yet another year for us to show the rest of the world what we have to offer from culture, infrastructure (new hotels), tradition and new products,” he said.

The minister said that such opportunities will help create a platform for key business relationships and elevate the fast rising tourism industry.

Some of the exhibitors are the Rwanda Development Board who are also the hosts, Serena Hotel, Uganda Tourism Board, Kenya Tourism Board and many others.

“We are proud to have our regional counterparts take part in the exhibition as we market East Africa as one destination; I am sure the exhibition this year will have a great response,” He said.

Other activities lined up for the week will include taking international and local journalists for tracking, game drives in national parks and the climax will be the naming of gorillas on Friday 1 September 2017.

Rwanda Preps for Gorilla Naming

The naming dubbed ‘‘Kwita Izina’ will see 13 baby gorillas named. The naming ceremony was introduced in 2005 with the aim of creating greater awareness of conservation efforts and of thanking communities for their ongoing and valuable support of these initiatives.

The year marks the 13th edition of the annual flagship event in conservation that brings together enthusiasts from all over the world to celebrate Rwanda’s success in protecting an endangered species. The naming will be held under the theme; ‘‘Conservation and sustainable tourism a foundation for future generation’’

The ceremony will include a gala dinner on August 26 where industry leaders will raise funds for conservation projects, this will be followed by a two-day conservation and tourism exhibition targeting the general public and stakeholders. There will also be a summit on conservation slated on August 28 and 29 before the main celebrations in Musanze

Speaking at a breakfast meeting in Kigali Belise Kariza Chief Tourism Officer BRD said Rwanda’s conservation journey has been more rewarding within the past decade, because of the involvement of local communities with in the entire tourism and conservation industry to uphold responsibility and sustainability to biodiversity.

‘‘This year, two community projects in education and one in healthcare will be launched under the revenue sharing scheme. Akagera primary school, Nyungwe National Park and the second phase of Gihorwe Health post in Kabatwa sector,’’ she said

The mentioned projects have been in the pipeline since 2013 and 2014, with additional developments that will continue to transform institutions into 12 year basic education schools as well as fully equipped and operational health post

Tourism collects about $444 million (about Rwf370 billion) in 2017, up from $404 million last year. However in May, the fee for gorillas trekking permit was revised from $750 to $1,500. Gorillas continue to be among the top tourism attractions in the country. Last year, 22,219 gorilla permits were sold, raising about Rwf15.6 billion.

According to Kaliza, there have been some high cost investments made in line with the ambitious tourism goals such as the Bisate Lodge by Wilderness Safaris in Kinigi, which will be launched this year. Singita Luxury African Safari Lodges Reserves, is expected to open their facility in 2019.

The increase in revenue is due to continued tourism promotion efforts as well as the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Events and Exhibitions (MICE) strategy.

Northern Province Governor Jean Claude Musabyimana said the communities living around the conservation areas have benefited from the growth of the tourism sector.

He said the revenue sharing model has seen the communities get better infrastructure, quality healthcare and education, which has encouraged them to champion conservation efforts.

Tourism earned $303.7 million in 2014; $293.6 million in 2013; $281.8 million in 2012 and $ 251.8 million in 2011.

The government targets at least 25% annual increase of tourism revenues.

Rwanda Reveals Dates for 13th Gorilla Naming Event

The Rwanda Development Board (RDB), the body charged with promoting the country’s tourism and investment sectors has revealed dates for a series of events that will lead to the 13^th annual Gorilla naming event, Kwita Izina.

The dates were revealed by RDB Chief Tourism Officer Belise Kariza while speaking at a breakfast meeting in Kigali on Wednesday.

Kariza said this year’s Kwita Izina will be marked in a weeklong series of events with the grand occasion scheduled for September 1 at Kinigi, in Rwanda’s northern district of Musanze.

The ceremony attracts a number of stakeholders in the tourism and conservation circles across the world and is aimed at popularizing Rwanda as the best destination for Gorilla trekking.

Mountain gorillas which were marked as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of nature can only be found in Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to Kariza, Gorillas contribute more than 90 percent of tourism revenues in Rwanda.

In 2016, she said, 22,219 gorilla permits were sold, raising about Rwf15.6 billion.

Each permit was then sold at USD750 although the country made a decision to double the tariffs to now USD1500.

This year’s Kwita Izina week will commence with a gala dinner on August 26 where industry leaders will raise funds for conservation projects.

This will be followed by a two-day conservation and tourism exhibition targeting the general public and stakeholders.

There will also be a summit on conservation slated on August 28 and 29 before the main celebrations in Musanze.

As part of Rwanda’s revenue sharing policy, 5 percent of tourism revenues is given back to communities for developmental projects and this year, two community projects in education and one in healthcare will be launched under the same.

RwandAir shines in Nigeria

It’s not a month down the road as tourists and travelers to Rwanda and across East Africa celebrated the arrival of a brand new Airbus 330-200, named Ubumwe (Unity) that was brought to reduce challenges in regions airline industry for Rwanda Air. The craft stopped over at Entebbe international airport as en-route from France to Kigali at 9.am but excitement and joy couldn’t miss to join the celebration.

The craft welcoming audience included the Uganda minister of transport, diplomats together with some officials. As it touched the tarmac for water salutes, the airline chief executive Mr John Mirenge, officials and journalist where on board to experience its comfort. However, Rwanda Air has discovered air travel market in Nigeria making it one of its major traffic zones in the continent. The airline said despite the economic challenges, the market remains committed to the air travel sector. Passengers of Rwanda Air in Nigeria said that the airline has always offered them quality services as well competitive air fares that make it outstanding and trusted.

The Rwanda Air country manager also added that “last financial year was a good outing for the airline on the Nigerian route, as its revenue grew and passenger traffic was the highest in terms of growth in the Rwanda Air Network “said Mr Ibiyemi Odunsi, The successful operations of Rwanda Air makes it easy for its travelers to now travel with Africa and out of the African continent without making unnecessary stopovers.

This rewarding performance of Rwanda in foreign countries gives hope to many Africa travelers who visit multiple Africa countries for holidays and those to Rwanda for Rwanda tours still will find it even easier to connect to Rwanda’s capital Kigali. I can’t fail to congratulate Rwanda air upon its stable service delivery and I believe Rwandans, foreign travelers, the government and other well wishers are happy today for seeing this happen. Today Rwanda fly’s to Dubai, Asia, Europe, south Africa, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya Tanzania bring their services close to all travelers across the world either for leisure

Even Odunsi a Nigeria passenger’s confirmed that the patronage and commitment to the airline; she said it was time to give back to them with more quality services and competitive fares. The reality is in the open that Rwanda air has made travel across Africa cheap and affordable to those seeking for perfect most popular Africa destinations. Don’t let the ridiculous air fares confuse when you can do visit multiple Africa countries on ticket from Rwanda Air.

The flight will be very interesting if Rwanda is one of those countries you looking at exploring on your next Africa holiday. Did you know the country has the most adorable primates, landscape and plants? In an effort to find the fun travel holiday, why not book a Rwanda gorilla trip to see both gorillas and chimpanzees in Nyungwe forest. You will prove this right after tracking these cute primates and leave Rwanda with only fantastic memories.

Rwanda Travel & Adventure Show Attract 1000s in Los Angeles

Thousands of Los Angles people set all their eyes on Rwanda stand during the Rwanda Los Angeles-based travel and Adventure show. Rwanda built its reputation more in the U.S.A as a first choice destination in East Africa with variety to explore and discover.Los Angeles people showed love to Rwanda by visiting the country with 41% of Rwanda guests coming from USA a good reason for Rwanda development board to exhibit and market the destination even more to USA citizens.

Ms. Belise Kariza, Chief Tourism Officer, also in charge of wildlife conservation at RDB, commented on the Rwandan participation when she said, “The USA is Rwanda’s number one source market with 41% of American visitors coming for leisure activities. The USA which ranks 2nd in terms of international spending on tourism according to UNWTO, represents an important pool of potential tourists to tap into as Rwanda grows its tourism offerings, mainly eco-adventure, Meetings and Conventions and cultural tourism.”. Indeed Rwanda is a magical tourism destination in Africa full of amazing landscape, forests, mountains, lakes, primates, birds and the friendly people.

With four national parks, besides the scenic shores of Lake Kivu along which the Congo Nile Trail extends for over 220 kilometers, Rwanda is offering adventure seekers a wide range of options, from gorilla trekking and golden monkey tracking to cycling, hiking the Nyungwe Forest National Park, bird watching, and exploring the classic savannah safari in Akagera National Park. Culture is also on offer after several of the former Royal palaces and sites were restored, as is caving, a more recent addition to the menu of options for visitors.

During the exhibition show all Los Angeles people seemed to look up for this year a great reason for many Rwanda increased tourist arrivals from USA. However for over 10years tourism has been Rwanda’s top foreign-exchange earner, generating million in 2014 and currently the world famous for the best Africa gorilla tracking tours. Every year the number of tourists to volcanoes national park to see primates goes high despite the pricy Rwanda gorilla permit at $750.East Africa has a region has three gorilla tracking parks sited in different countries including Rwanda but still Rwanda gorilla tracking is outstanding in several ways.

Time factor is one of them, followed by manageable hikes plus easy connectivity to other region popular attractions like wildlife in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda as well as other gorilla tracking parks. The Rwanda tourism board looks at the event as the base for showing the world what Rwanda has to offer in terms of travel and tourism. Rwanda noticed a growing travel trend through different travel exhibitions and more exhibitions are yet to be held in different countries across the globe.

After a good turn up of people in a particular trade show, Rwanda can proudly say that it has successfully reached out to the targeted audience in the travel industry. With the Los Angeles show now concluded, the Rwandan team is heading to Berlin next to attend ITB 2016 where the country is aiming to recapture the best African Stand award once again. Rwanda is connected by air from the United States through Brussels Airlines, KLM, Qatar Airways, and by Kenya Airways and a number of other airlines including, of course, national airline, Rwanda Air, from across Africa. The trade show will be attended by millions of travelers an indication for the successful travel industry in East Africa for Rwanda as a unique travel destination.