Tourist Visa Fees Scrapped
Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda have waived visa fees for foreign residents to allow easy access to the region’s diverse tourism experience.
According to Yamina Karitanyi, the Rwanda Development Board’s Head of Department for Tourism and Conservation, the waiver was agreed on under the Northern Corridor Integration projects initiative.
Known as the East Africa Tourist Visa (EATV), foreign residents no longer have to pay the $100 fee for the visa that is valid for 90 days effective December 15, 2014.
Karitanyi, said the waiver on the single East Africa Tourist Visa was the next step in consolidating and enriching the region’s tourism potential.
“We are approaching the rest of the world as a unified and rich tourist destination with varied experiences for travellers. We are also positioning East Africa’s tourism assets collectively as part of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects,” Karitanyi said at the weekend.
She added that joint marketing programmes will be carried out annually and will cover road shows such as the International Tourism Board (ITB) and World Travel Market (WTM) in 2015.
She pointed out that going forward, the partner states will lobby for a single stand during international tourism marketing events.
Outlining the modalities of implementation, Karitanyi said eligible foreign residents shall be issued with inter state pass on exiting the host state and visitor’s pass endorsed in their passports on arrival by presenting valid work/resident permits.
Other immigration procedures and regulations will, however, be maintained.
In preparing for the joint marketing programmes, she noted that the partner states were already gearing up the teams involved by conducting destination training workshops and disseminating information on the use of national identity cards, student/voters cards and the East Africa Tourist Visa.
“We encourage the private sector to take advantage of this opportunity to offer unbeatable packages while maximising win-win offers.”
The just concluded 8th Northern Corridor Integration Summit attended by Presidents; Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Paul Kagame, and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, held in Nairobi last week, also directed Rwanda’s Minister of Infrastructure to convene a meeting of Airline Industry stakeholders and finalise negotiations on the 5th Freedom Traffic Rights on Entebbe-Nairobi-Juba-Nairobi meant to address outstanding issues to reduce the cost of air travel in the region and report to the next Summit that will be held in Kigali.
Read MoreEast African Tour Operators Visit Rwanda to Eye New Business Opportunities
This week, 11 international tour operators with offices in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will visit Rwanda for as part of a Rwanda Development Board (RDB) initiative to increase awareness of the country’s diverse tourism opportunities and generate more tourism sales.
“The East African Community is an important growth area for Rwanda’s tourism industry”, said Ambassador Yamina Karitanyi, Head of the RDB’s Tourism & Conservation Department. “The goal of this guided trip is to demonstrate to these high-value tour operators that Rwanda is a multi-day destination with a rich selection of cultural and natural experiences.”
Visiting tour operators will eyewitness that beyond gorillas’ visit, Rwanda offers varied and easily accessible experiences which expand visitors stay thanks to new and well packaged tourism products. There are now more than five globally renowned hotels, and together with the private sector there is a will to transform Rwanda into a high end tourism destination as important tourism infrastructure is being developed.
The RDB has set an ambitious goal of 10% increase in visitation year-over-year and wants to see tourism revenue increasing at 25% in 2020. The East African market is an essential component in meeting this target. The timing of this particular effort is strategic.
Rwanda provides an exciting destination for many of the tour operators that are visiting. The country’s perception as a safe and clean destination provides a desirable sales alternative or contemporary products for travel companies that have heavily relied on Safari Bookings and Indian Ocean beach trips.
The international tour operators will visit Kigali, Rubavu, Musanze, Volcanoes National Park, and Nyungwe National Park. The program will conclude with a networking session with local Rwandan tour operators, hoteliers, and tourism service providers in order to create new working business relationships.
The regional tour operators visit is sponsored by the Hôtel des Mille Collines by Kempinski, RwandAir, Serena Kivu, Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, Republika Lounge, Volcanoes Safaris and Primates Safaris.
Read MoreRwanda’s Gishwati Forest Elevated to National Park Status
With Rwanda’s keen interest to promote and maintain eco-tourism as one of the pillars of the national economy it was long expected that Gishwati will eventually join the Nyungwe Forest as a new national park, incidentally part of a deal struck between President Kagame and the founder of the Great Ape Trust Ted Townsend some years ago and now become a reality
The law that elevated Gishwati-Mukura into a national park was approved during the cabinet meeting that was held on October 15, led by H.E Paul Kagame.
The creation of a Gishwati Mukura National Park has been a long awaited event and serves to underscore constantly voiced sentiments, that a committed and enlightened government can in fact change the future of a country for the better without trampling on its environment, destroying biodiversity and unsustainable exploitation of the natural resources.
Nyabihu district administration is excited about the cabinet approval to elevate Gishwati forest to a national park following its geographical location and tourist attractions.
Angela Mukaminani, vice-mayor for economic affairs in Nyabihu district disclosed that they are happy over the decision to make Gishwati a national park.
Understandably this development has been kept under wraps for a longer time.
“We informed Rwanda Development Board (RDB) about the tourist attractions of Gishwati. Many hills, farmlands and forests that attract the attention of people,” she said.
Nyiraminani added that guest houses and hotels are being set up to accommodate the growing number of tourists, saying it will promote investment and increase the economy of the district and the country at large.
Before 1994 Tutsi genocide, Gishwati forest had 280 acres per km2 but after the 1994 Tutsi genocide many Rwandan who returned from DRC settled on one part of the forest reducing its size to 7acres per square kilometer.
In a bid to restore Gishwati to its former glory, The Gishwati Area Conservation Program (GACP) began in 2007 with the collaboration of Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, and Great Ape Trust to protect the biodiversity of the Gishwati Forest area and stop some of the rapid degradation.
In the process of protecting the biodiversity of the forest, it was divided into three parts for cultivation, livestock farming and forestry. This resolved the problem of soil erosion that had been caused by the population.
Gishwati makes the biggest part of Nyabihu, Ngororero, Rubavu and Rutsiro district.
Read MoreRwanda, Uganda partner in Tourism Development
In its commitment to promote East Africa as a single Tourism destination, Uganda has partnered with Rwanda to jointly promote two -way tourism traffic; between the two sister-countries.
Speaking during the a tourism training conference at Serena Hotel-Kigali, Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwanadan Minister for Foreign Affairs said the move which was championed by the Uganda.
Tourism Board in partnership with the Rwandan Development Board is purposed to defend both the security and business developments of the two countries.
“People to people relations between Uganda and Rwanda is a very important step to strengthening the tourism sectors of the two economies-both of which come as their country’s biggest revenue earners, contributing over $1b to either country.”
Mushikiwabo said while addressing over 5,000 celebrants including Ugandan fraternity in Rwanda, High Commissioners and friends of Uganda in Rwanda.
According to Stephen Asiimwe, UTB Chief Executive Officer, under the merger, the two countries will have healthy tourism exchanges whenever marketing opportunities such as tourism marts and expos arise in the two countries and the Great Lakes Region in general.
As a result, social-economic problems such unemployment will be effectively addressed because Tourism is the world’s biggest employer, employing at least one of every ten people in its various sub-sectors such as Roads and Transport, Hotel and accommodation among others.
To aid in this realization, Uganda’s High Commissioner to Rwanda, Richard Kabonero said Rwanda will with immediate effect start by stamping out hindrances that have over the years suffocated a healthy business exchange between the two countries such as the border to border bureaucracies.
According to Edwin Muzahura, Head of Marketing UTB, the board’s choice for Rwanda was highly influenced by the fact that no other country in the region feeds Uganda with as much tourists as Rwanda.
Read MoreProtea Hotels is Extending to the Shores of Kivu
Rwanda then becomes the 10th African country to benefit from investments in Protea Hotels services and infrastructure. The boom in Rwandan tourism is allowing Rwanda to become a tourist destination in the region and in Africa. Investors are scrambling in hospitality services and infrastructure. The South African Hospitality Giant “ProteaHotels” is following suit with the construction of a 5-star hotel in the District of Rusizi, in the west of the country, on the shores of Lake Kivu. This hotel of 15 billion Frws, or 22,058,823$, will have 76 rooms and will be completed in 2016 under the brand of “Protea Kivu Marina ResortHotel. “.
Thus, “ProteaHotels Group”, part of “Marriott Hotels International”, one of the world’s leading hotels is also building another five-star hotel in the city of Kigali. Other internationally renowned hotels like Radisson Blu, Radisson by Park Inn, Kempinski, Sheraton and Golden Tulip are already in the market for Rwanda’s tourism and hospitality sector.
Yamina Karitanyi, Head of Tourism and Conservation at Rwanda Development Board (RDB) welcomes this new development. “We welcome investors like Protea because Rwandans will directly benefit from this partnership which will also contribute to Rwanda’s competitiveness, especially in tourism”. According to Karitanyi, “the Kuvu Belt (Kivu Bellt) is one of our priority places for the development of tourism and the diversification of the services we offer”.
ProteaHotels is a South African creation specializing in hospitality and leisure headquartered in Cape Town. It is the largest hotel company in Africa with over 126 three, four and five star hotels in 10 African countries. The majority of its hotels are in South Africa. Others are located in Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya and Ghana.
Read MoreRwanda Emerges as a Popular Destination
Once blemished by one of the worst cases of ethnic violence that resulted in to the popular 1994 Rwanda Genocide, Rwanda is fast becoming one of the top travel destinations in Rwanda. To many people in the world, when you ask them about Rwanda, the few who know this tiny country know about the genocide than the adventurous side of it. Twenty years after experiencing the genocide, a worst ethnic violence the world has ever seen, Rwanda has greatly recovered and established itself as one of the places to go gorilla trekking though still now the effects of the genocide is still fresh in the hearts of Rwandanese.
The country has steadily emerged as a well-known tourist destination internationally thanks to the existence of the mountain gorillas. Tourists are drawn to Rwanda by its natural and scenic beauty, rich culture, as well as the unique flora and fauna in its national parks, which are home to the giant mountain gorillas. Many travelers have taken safaris into Rwanda to see the amazing gorillas, chimpanzees, genocide memorial sites and experience the unique culture of the Rwanda people.
The Goma, Kibuye, Kigali, Gisenyi are the well known places to see in Rwanda. Rwandan wildlife attracts a huge number of tourists every year. The dangerous volcanic mountains preserved by the Volcanoes National Park and the dense tropical forests are the main attractions in the northern part of the country. On the other hand lakes, rivers, valleys and hills dominate the rest part of the country. Akagera National Park in eastern Rwanda and Parc National des Volcanoes is the home place for many endangered species. The water bodies of Rwanda are also very famous particularly the Lake Muhazi and Lake Kivu
Besides that, the Rwanda recently joined the International Council of Tourism Partners. All of these attributes have helped the nation to rank among the top five as it was voted among the; “Top Emerging Destinations” in the Wanderlust Travel Awards 2011. This all means that the country’s efforts to develop travel and tourism in a sustainable way seem to be paying off, so all you have to do is bear witness to what Rwanda has to offer by booking one of the packaged Rwanda safaris today.
Read MoreRwanda to Boost Cultural Tourism
In the bid to avoid being over reliant on Gorrilas for tourism, there has been efforts to diversify the tourism industry to avoid dependence on a single attraction.
It is against this background, that a there is a proposal of a Cultural Tourism Village in Kigali spearheaded by the City of Kigali, Ministry of Trade and the Rwanda Development Board (RDB).
According to the Proposal, the Kigali Cultural Tourism Center will be built in Rebero City Suburb.
The Minister of Trade and Industry Francois Kanimba emphasises the importance of cultural tourism which he referred to as a critical component to Rwanda’s tourism product diversification agenda which has the potential improve the annual foreign revenues generated by tourism.
The Head of Tourism in RDB, Rica Rwigamba says that foundations to support cultural tourism are being developed.
“Rwanda has a rich cultural heritage and investments are being made to ensure the necessary infrastructure and the development of clusters, especially in strengthening the creative industries which include handicrafts, dance and music,” says Rwigamba.
She further notes that, for Rwanda to overcome the single attraction challenge and to sustain its tourism growth momentum, more efforts are required to diversify product offerings.
“This is crucial in order to leverage other avenues where the country is well positioned to compete and to significantly augment its tourism receipts. One of these avenues is cultural tourism.”
Read MoreRwanda, Kenya tour agents agree to promote tourism
Rwanda and Kenya travel and tour operators have agreed to partner to strengthen tourism in their respective countries.
The agreement was reached following a meeting between the Rwanda Travel and Tour Association (RTTA) and their counterparts from Kenya.
Waturi Matu, the East Africa Tourism Platform coordinator, said it was important for tourism industry stakeholders in Rwanda and Kenya to work together, and also identify tourism products that could be jointly promoted.
“This will help us develop business-to-business deals that can help increase tourists numbers in both countries,” Matu pointed out.
“It’s a great honor to work with Kenyan tourism stakeholders. We are ready to share our experience and we hope we’ll learn a lot from them as we try to find ways to develop tourism in East Africa,” says Manzi Kayihura, the president of the Rwanda Tours and Travel Association.
Matu explained that Kenyan tour operators were in Rwanda to find ways on how to remove barriers that were hindering the tourism growth in East Africa. Matu added that the move was in line with the treaty that was signed by East African Community Heads of State to promote the region as a single tourism destination.
“We’ve been performing well as a region at international tourism fairs, but very little has been done to promote East Africa as a single tourism destination.”Matu said they would also start promoting tourism among East Africans to maximize benefits and revenue from the sector.
The Kenyan delegation included members of the Kenya Association of Travel Agents, the Kenya Association of Tour Agents. Also in attendance was the East African Tourism Platform.
The East Africa Tourism Platform was launched in Kigali in July 2012 to reduce obstacles to intra and inter-regional tourism, promote a regional tourism marketing approach and encourage continued human resource development and skills transfer.
Read MoreRDB set to grade 30 more hotels this year
The Rwanda Development Board’s Tourism and Conservation Department will grade at least 30 more hotels this year, following the start of the exercise last year. Using the East African Community’s guidelines for grading and classification of hotels and other hospitality businesses, RDB is reportedly committed to play their part in ensuring that standards and quality of tourism establishments in Rwanda are uplifted to match if not exceed those of their neighbors in the East African community.
Presently only the Kigali Serena Hotel and the Nyungwe Forest Lodge by DubaiWorld hold the coveted 5-star ranking, while a number of other Kigali hotels were graded as 4-star properties, as was the Lake Kivu Serena. A number of other establishments have requested to be put on the list for upcoming inspections to ensure they can also publicly announce and display their star rating once the exercise is complete.
Those already graded will, however, also undergo a fresh audit to ensure that standards established at first inspection will have been maintained to ensure continued high ranking, also giving others the opportunity to attain a further star, should improvement made over the past two years warrant such a decision.
“When you were here last time we discussed the very issue of standards. Rwanda is a niche destination, still largely focused on gorilla trekking. The new products launched over the past two or three years, however, have attracted a lot of attention. Hiking is now a regular activity in Nyungwe Forest, Gishwati Forest, and along the Congo-Nile Trail. Birding has become an important additional niche.
“It is now important to raise our standards so when visitors come to Rwanda as an extension of their Kenya or Tanzania holiday they get the best possible quality, in guides, in infrastructure, and, of course, in hospitality. There is always room to improve, but we have made it our mission to accomplish certain goals sooner rather than later. When the new Marriott will open, it will compete at level terms with the Serena, and that is good for the country as it offers another 5-star choice.
“Our MICE business is growing strongly, too, and that segment of the market in particular is really very much interested in quality facilities. Rwanda is going places,” said a source in Kigali working at a hotel but, for not being the official company spokesperson had to opt for an off-the-record comment.
Read MoreRwandans Called Upon to Join Bird Tourism
Rwandans are being called upon to visit birds so that they can see the different types and also the beauty of Rwanda.
Jean Pierre Rwasa,the head of Terintambwe Tourisme Bugesera cooperative[TTBC],a cooperative concerned with birds tourism, said that “the tourism done in Bugesera district is most times done by foreigners and therefore asks Rwandans to also come for it.
“We do not want this tourism to be done by foreigners only, but Rwandans also should come for it since they are many types of birds that they have not seen and they can get to see the from here, “said Rwasa.
Jean Pierre Kangabe one of the leaders of tourists of birds, said that since they started birds’ tourism in Bugesera district in 2011,there have been few Rwandan that go to visit.
He adds on that “Rwandans have now known what tourism is since they visit parks of different types, but they have not done much bird tourism. They should come and we show them the different types of bird they have not seen, that are mainly in western countries, and other parts of the world, and are now here in Rwanda”.
To visit these birds foreigners pay 10,000Rwf per person while Rwandans pay Rwf3000 per person ,adding on that the best time to visit the birds is in the early morning hours like at 5:30am-7:00am and also at 5:00pm.
TTBC was started with an aim of promoting bird tourism and it works in four sectors which include Rweru, Rilima, Gashora and Juru.
Since tourism started in Bugesera district, 200 tourists have come to visit the bird park but Rwandans are really few yet even most of them that come are just escorting the foreigners.
Some of the birds that are visited mostly include, ibishuhe, Nyirabarazana, amafundi, imisure, imisamanzuki among others.
Bugesera district comes the first in bird tourism in Rwanda. It has mainly birds of the water and seasonal birds, because of the swamps around with about 200 types of birds.
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