Tour operators market Rwanda at Netherlands tourism exhibition

Four Local tour operators participated in a week-long annual Dutch tourism fair which ended on Sunday in the city of Utrecht, Netherlands where they marketed Rwanda’s tourism potential.They are Access Rwanda Safaris, Amahoro Tours, Mercator Assistance and Sunrise Eco-tours.Utrecht, the capital and most populous city in the Dutch province of Utrecht, hosts Vakantiebeurs, Netherlands’ biggest and most important tourism exhibition attracting more than 120,000 visitors and 1,600 exhibitors from about 160 countries, annually.The annual fair attracts more than 14,000 travel and media professionals. This year’s event commenced on Tuesday last week and ended on Sunday.The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) in partnership with the Rwandan Embassy in the Netherlands usually encourages local firms to participate in this fair to showcase Rwanda’s tourism potential.Guillaume Kavaruganda, the Minister Counsellor at the Rwandan Embassy in Netherlands told The New Times that the Rwandan dancers enchanted crowds while freshly brewed Rwandan coffee was also served.Kavaruganda said various Rwandan firms have participated for the last six years, adding that the fair creates awareness and image building.“Since Rwanda started exhibiting, the number of Dutch tourists to Rwanda increased six fold in the past six years. This is the reason why KLM has started to fly five times a week to Kigali,” Kavaruganda said. “From January to September 2013, there was a remarkable growth by 22% of Dutch visitors to Rwanda. The daily flights of KLM between Amsterdam and Kigali also increased. Turkish Airlines also opened its route to Rwanda,” Kavaruganda said.Evert Jacobs Manzi, of Access Safari, told The New Times that he has showcased Rwanda’s tourism potential every year and this “gives people confidence.”“They have stopped asking if Rwanda is safe. We represent and sell Rwanda as a holiday destination,” Manzi said.Emmanuel Kirenga of Access Rwanda Safaris Ltd, said: “The Netherlands fair in Utrecht attracts tour operators from Belgium, Luxembourg and other places. We met wholesalers of tourism products.” In March last year, the Rwandan Embassy in the Netherlands held a similar tourism promotion event in Amsterdam at the Inholland University, Diemen Campus. The event was co-sponsored by Turkish Airlines and Inholland University, to provide Dutch tour operators, travel agents and journalists with comprehensive information about unique tourism opportunities in Rwanda.Rare Mountain Gorillas and beautiful canopy walk in Nyungwe Park, the Kwita Izina (annual gorilla naming ceremony), the Congo Nile Trail, and the newly-launched Musanze Caves are among Rwanda’s tourism products.

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Tour operators market Rwanda at Netherlands tourism exhibition