Unleashing Rwanda's tourism potential

Editor, RE: “Dutch firms explore investment opportunities in tourism sector” (The New Times, January 24). It is very interesting to read about the initiative by GreenDreamCompany, a Dutch group that specialises in sustainable area development of natural and cultural heritage, using tourism. This trade mission comes, as reported in your article, a week after local operators showcased Rwanda’s vast tourism potential during the week-long tourism fair, Vakantiebeurs 2016, in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The fact that the first projects of the GreenDreamCompany will be located in Rwanda and Ethiopia endorses the potential these two countries have for tourism growth. Please allow me to share with your esteemed readers, particularly all those from the travel, tourism and hospitality sector, that Rwanda Tourism’s “India Road Show 2016”, which is slated to take place from 18-20 February 2016 covering two key cities, Mumbai and Bangalore, could well boost visitor arrivals and also investments in this sector. Like Vakantiebeurs in the Netherlands, India’s commercial capital Mumbai will host the biggest tourism event Outbound Travel Market 2016 during which Rwanda Tourism will set up an attractive pavilion. However, it is the private sector which really needs to partner with the Government and also come to India which, today, is one of the fastest growing outbound travel market. Last year, as many as 20 million Indians traveled overseas. Not only does India offer the world large numbers of visitor arrivals, but also, most importantly, tourism boards have acknowledged the fact that Indian visitors are among the highest spenders in the world. What better time to participate in OTM 2016 than when RwandAir is also preparing to commence as many as four weekly flights into Mumbai during the second half of this year? This will provide direct connectivity between Kigali and Mumbai. Coupled with the entry of RwandAir into the Indian skies, leading hotels like the Kigali Marriott, Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson and The Kigali Zinc Hotel will also open this year in Kigali, providing the ideal opportunity for local stakeholders to grab a reasonable portion of the Indian pie. Partnerships are the key to economic development—so also with tourism, which today is the highest foreign exchange earner for the country. We extend a warm and cordial invitation to the private sector to partner with Rwanda Tourism and join the forthcoming India Road Show 2016. Stakeholders are bound to see a satisfactory return on their investment. Clarence Fernandes

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Unleashing Rwanda's tourism potential