Rwanda woos tourists at Swedish travel fair

Rwanda’s participation in the 2015 TUR Travel Fair in Stockholm will help grow the number of tourists from the wealthy Nordic state, Ambassador Christine Nkulikiyinka said at the close of the fair yesterday. The travel fair, held at the Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre in downtown Stockholm attracted tour and travel industry professionals as well as buyers. A combination of high wages, intractable weather and long paid holidays make Nordic countries one of the world’s leading per capita sources of tourists. “Rwanda has everything Africa has to offer in one country. From mountains for hikers, Savannah wildlife for safari enthusiasts to rain forests for nature and bird lovers,” Ambassador Nkulikiyinka told visitors to the fair at an event hosted by Rwanda. A Stockholm-based Rwandan cultural troupe—Imanzi was on hand to entertain guests on Saturday afternoon, according to a statement from the Rwanda Development Board. Among the speakers was Erika Lejon Flodin, a student at Sweden’s Uppsala University, who narrated her experience travelling and living in Rwanda over a six-week period. “Rwanda combines breathtaking landscapes, vegetation wildlife and—importantly for me—a very safe atmosphere,” she said in a public talk during Rwanda’s time slot on the travel fair stage. RDB’s Marketing Manager for Tourism and Conservation, Linda Mutesi highlighted the different attractions on offer in Rwanda. She also met several tour operators offering Rwanda as a destination as well as potential partners. Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia are home to many avid hikers—a demographic that would find Rwanda’s landscape, favorable climate and safety particularly appealing. Thousands of visitors attended the two-day travel fair which was taking place in Stockholm for the first time. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Rwanda woos tourists at Swedish travel fair