The country’s tourism revenues are on a rise partly due to sector players like tour operators who have made it easy for both local and international visitors to move around the country and the region easily.
Tourism is one of the main earners for the country’s foreign exchange and the government has heavily invested in the sector to realize this growth as well as opening up the private sector to play a key role in tourism.
George Kimani, from Kenya was impressed by the cross border initiatives in Rwanda’s tourism sector which allowed him self-drive services from Rwanda’s volcano national park home to the famous gorilla crossing into Uganda from Rwandan service providers pick their cars.
“I found this a good initiative where it offers full-package with all services in one and I think this will help grow tourism sector in the country and the region. It also comes cheaper compared using different service providers at every point,” said Kimani.
Rwanda’s tourism like many other countries around the globe is recovering from the challenges caused by the 2020 covid-19 pandemic as global tourism and travel fell sharply in the wake of this pandemic.
Current tourism statistics reveal that Rwanda’s revenues from tourism amounted to US$247 million during the first half of 2023, reflecting a notable 56% surge compared to the US$158 million reported during the same period in 2022.
This growth came on the backdrop of a successful previous year where figures show that Rwanda’s tourism revenues had increased to US$445 million in 2022, up 171.3 percent from the previous year, with nature-based tourism bearing the potential to drive the country’s economic growth.
Gorilla trekking, a unique tourist attraction in the East African country, generated revenues of 113 million dollars, the government institution, Rwanda Development Board (RDB), said in a report released on Wednesday.
The country attracted about 110,000 visitors to its national parks in 2022, registering an increase of 142.4 percent from 2021, the report said. It added that the country aims to increase tourism receipts to 800 million dollars by 2024.
However, tour operators say that the tourism sector is showing positive signs of recovering and expect better business returns as tourists have resumed travels and this will boost the sector and the economy in general.
“The economy suffered globally many of our colleagues closed shop due to the pandemic but we have witnessed recovery during this year and tourists have returned local, regional and international and this will boost the economy and tourism business eco-system,” Frank Muzungu, the Managing Director of Kigali car rentals and tours, a tour operating company.
According to the report, in 2022, Rwanda welcomed a total of more than 1.1 million international visitors. Of these, the report showed, more than 60 per cent came from African countries, highlighting the country’s growing popularity as a destination within the continent.
According to Rwanda Development Board, the path to economic recovery is well on course. In 2022, I am delighted to report that we continued to make significant progress in our efforts to achieve sustainable economic growth, despite the global challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic,” reads RDB statement. adding that “our achievements in the tourism sector were satisfactory.”
also in effort to diversify and maximize opportunities, RDB and Mandai Park Development, a private company in Singapore, signed a partnership agreement to establish the Nyungwe Experience at Mandai Park. This project will highlight Rwanda’s eco-luxury tourism offerings and draw visitors from Singapore and around the globe to Rwanda.
Rwanda’s overall strategic vision is to focus on high-end ecotourism rather than mass tourism. In the first Rwanda Tourism Strategy, three core market segments were identified: eco travelers, explorers, and business travelers.
Presence of important business challenges to the development of Rwanda’s tourism industry and access to financial capital, lack of qualified human resources, and limited understanding of customer needs have been identified as three business challenges that undermine Rwanda’s tourism industry’s ability to compete.
