Rwanda’s tourism continues to recover against the devastating slump that was caused by the global pandemic of Covid-19, even greatly exceeding the expectations.

Tourism was most hit by the pandemic, mainly owing to the shutdown of international travel while people found it less inclined to spend on leisurely activities like tourism owing to the uncertainty that came with the deadly pandemic.

A report released by Rwanda Development Board (RDB) indicates that in 2022, Rwanda recorded $445 million (about Rwf496 billion) which was by far higher than the projected $350m.

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This puts the country’s recovery from the pandemic at nearly 90 per cent, much higher than the global recovery rate, which was put at 65 per cent of the pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to the United Nations World Trade Organisation.

It is however still a long way to go. Before the disruptions of the pandemic, Rwanda was beginning to reap from its substantial investment in tourism promotion, chiefly the partnerships struck with two giant football clubs, Arsenal of England and Paris St Germain of France.

This means that much as we continue to recover, it is important to note that we are not even where we were before the pandemic and so we have to put in more effort to get to the levels projected before Covid-19.

Fortunately, the government has been proactive and it has done much to leverage on sports tourism which is one of the latest offerings of the country, case in point being the just-concluded FIFA congress that was hosted in Kigali and brought together of football administrators from all over the world.

Substantial strategic investments have also been made towards this end, including the state of the art golf course and the Amahoro National Stadium which is currently undergoing a complete makeover.

We also have the BK Arena, which is already attracting continental showpieces including the Basketball Africa League (BAL) whose finals will be played there this month like has been the case over the past three years.

However, it will require the participation of everyone, mainly the private sector, to make the most of these investments and other initiatives introduced to shore up tourism in the country.

Government can help attract people to Rwanda but ultimately, it is up to everyone to ensure those who come actually do spend money they come with to have a multiplier effect.