The number of Indian tourists visiting the country could soon increase following the signing of a co-operation deal between the Rwanda Tour and Travel Association (RTTA) and Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) to market the country in the Asian nation. 

"This memorandum of understanding will help in marketing Rwanda as a must-visit tourist destination in India, which we expect to significantly increase number of tourists from the country,” Joseph Birori, the RTTA chairman, said after the signing of the deal on Wednesday.

He said the agreement will enable Rwanda to tap into the huge Indian tourism market and help improve the sector’s foreign exchange earnings.

Birori added that the deal will also help promote trade and investment between the two countries, explaining that most of the tourists are also business people looking for investment opportunities.

"This agreement is a ‘business opportunity document’. We have been dealing with traditional markets – Europe and USA, but now we want to focus on India because it presents us many opportunities,” he said.

Rwanda received a total of 1.2 million visitors in 2014 compared to over 1.1 million visitors in 2013, indicating an annual increase of 97,000 visitors.

Most of the tourists were from the US at 24,488 visitors, followed by India at 13,008 visitors, and third was the United Kingdom with 12,320, Belgium, 8,733, while 8,228 Germans visited the country last year.

The deal, which is one of the outcomes of Rwanda Calling 2015 activities, will therefore go a long way in helping boost the number of visitors from India.

Rwanda Calling, which is in its third edition, aims at enhancing trade, tourism and investment opportunities in Rwanda.

Speaking at the event, Guldeep Singh Sahni, the president of OTOAI, said more than 20 million Indians will be travelling outside the country by 2020, presenting the tourism and other sectors a lot of opportunities.

"Rwanda is an attractive country with its natural resources…our members will work with you to encourage more Indians to visit Rwanda,” he said.

Sahni, who led a 15-man delegation, however urged government to improve facilities to make the sector more attractive to visitors.

Faustin Karasira, the head of tourism department at Rwanda Development Board, said the co-operation agreement will mainly focus on marketing Rwanda as a top tourist destination, among other things.

"We want to penetrate the Indian market, especially by targeting business tourists. Besides, when more Indians visit the country, they will recommend Rwanda to their friends and business partners, which will help us tap investors for the tourism and hospitality industries,” he said.

Karasira added that there are other investment opportunities in sectors like power generation and transmission, manufacturing, mining, packaging, textiles, affordable housing, financial services and ICT.

Last year, tourism raked in $304.9 million (Rwf228.7 billion), a four per cent increase from US$ 293.6 Million (Rwf220.2 billion) generated in 2013.

Rwanda and India also have strong trade and bilateral relations.

Figures from RDB indicate that over $113 million worth of Indian investments has been sunk into key sectors of the Rwandan economy, including mining, manufacturing, health and education.

Trade between the two countries has also risen from $34 million in 2010 to $153 million in 2014, especially in horticulture products, pharmaceuticals and machinery.

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