TOURISM: 2008: Gorilla naming boosts Rwanda’s tourism sector

The increase in revenues officially made the industry the number one foreign exchange earner, contributing about 3.7 percent to the national gross domestic product (GDP) Last year Rwanda’s tourism industry emerged the top foreign currency earner, generating revenues worth $42.3m (Rwf23.6b) from 390,000 tourists, according to Rwanda Office of Tourism and National Parks (ORTPN) — an institution mandated for the promotion of tourism and conservation of national parks in Rwanda. In the first six months of 2008, the sector hit a historical figure of $80m (Rwf44.6b), representing a 15 percent in excess of the targeted $68m (Rwf37.9b) for the entire 2008, something that authorities have strongly attributed to the success of the gorilla naming ceremony locally known as Kwita Izina that attracted over 150 local and international conservationists. The ceremony which reflects Rwanda’s old tradition of naming new born babies recognises the importance of the gorillas and their protection in the country which is a home to a third of the 750 mountain gorillas left in the world. For the first time, this year’s Kwita Izina attracted over 150 conservationists, researchers and development partners worldwide, who met to raise the profile of tourism in Rwanda. It also focused on the importance of knowledge based approaches for the long term wildlife conservation. Owing to the ceremony’s profitability, ORTPN unveiled several facilities for communities in different districts using revenues obtained from gorilla tourism. The good performance officials say is also a result of the UN tabulation method that government adopted. The method is a statistics gathering tool developed by ORTPN in collaboration with a team of international consultants. The increase in revenues officially made the industry the number one foreign exchange earner, contributing about 3.7 percent to the national gross domestic product (GDP). This was the highest amount collected from a single industry over the period. The performance has prompted ORTPN officials to predict that the industry’s earnings will peak at $148m (Rwf82.6b) from a projected 884,220 visitors. Rwanda recorded 408,482 tourists in the first semester of 2008, 18482 visitors more than last year’s. According to statistics from the tourism agency, accommodation and room capacity also increased from 2,391 in 2007 to 3,282 rooms countrywide. Proofing of all efforts towards achieved the revised revenue target was recognised in just three months after a successful mid-term. The industry scooped $57m (Rwf31.8b) in three months summing up to $137.7m (Rwf76.8b) in eight months of 2008. This a 55 percent increase over last year’s revenues of $88.8m (Rwf49.5b) in the same period. The revised target and the eight months earnings are even above the 2012 projected revenues of $110m (Rwf66.4b). With the evident increase of revenues in the past years, ORTPN that was merged along other seven agencies to form the Rwandan Development Board (RDB) expects a sound increase in tourism revenues. Rwanda has positioned herself to become the tourism hub in the region by diversifying tourist attractions. These include cultural heritage, national parks and historical sites such as Gisozi Memorial Site as an option in addition to the mountain gorillas. The expectations were boosted by the signing of a joint forest conservation deal with Burundi. It is geared towards trans-boundary collaboration on protection of Kibira National Park in Burundi and Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda. Enshrined in the pact are issues to do with conservation of the biodiversity, natural resources, and associated cultural values, research, monitoring and ecotourism for both countries. Massive investments in the industry have also emerged to boost the tourism revenues. For example, Dubai World, Dubai’s investment holding company, is still expected to inject a total $230m (Rwf128b) into tourism projects in Rwanda over three years. The company is expected will build three 4-star hotels at the foothills of Rwanda’s three main national parks and a new five-star golf resort in the capital Kigali with 300 high-end apartments. In the volcanoes national park, famous for its rare mountain gorillas, Dubai World also plans to set up a five-star $2,000 (Rwf1m) a night tented camp. The company will also construct an airstrip and a hotel to serve tourists visiting the the Akagera Park. The authority’s efforts have been backed by the endorsement of a common tourist visa by regional top chief executives from the East African Community (EAC) states. This is to ease marketing of the region as a single travel package. According to the agreement, regional tourist entry visa fees would range between $50 (Rwf27,187) and $100 (Rwf54,375). The regional tourism package was first proposed by immigration officials from the original members of the EAC—Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania—in 2006 in order to accelerate and promote the growth of the tourism sector in the region. The EAC Ministerial Council, the designated decision-making authority on all regional matters of sovereignty, revenue, policy and immigration matters, is the organ that will ultimately adopt the joint visas for tourists. If approved by the EAC Ministerial Council of Ministers, tourists will apply for one country entry visa that will be applicable in all regional member states. It would allow tourists to travel through a series of endless borders to sample the unique attractions that East Africa has to offer. The growth saw Tourism earnings over take coffee and tea which scooped $35.7m (Rwf19.9b) and $31.5m (Rwf17.6b) respectively. All these sectors have been prioritised by government as key economic contributors to boost exports by earning reasonable bundles of foreign currencies. The revenue growth was attributed to the worldwide campaign to promote Rwanda’s tourism, with heavy investments estimated at $78m (Rwf44.1b). Local private investments in tourism and hospitality facilities were estimated at $42m (Rwf23.4b) marking a 57 percent increase over those of 2006. The industry was also boosted by the increased number of hotel rooms from 1860 in 2006 to 2,391 in 2007 and the number of restaurants moved to 82 in 2007 compared to 75 in 2006. Other developments included new hotels and tourism training schools, launch of bird watching, and introduction of master and visa cards. The launch of birding tourism was eyed as another income generating product under the support of On The Frontier Group (OTF Group). This followed the product being the fastest growing outdoor activity in the United States and the United Kingdom. The OTF Group says that Rwanda has a variety of birds because her natural endowments hugely favour birding.Although it was hard to put an accurate figure to the number of bird species, birds were believed to be over 650. The Akagera and Nyungwe national parks were believed to be home many species. More in the promotional efforts was the participationin the ITB-Berlin in Germany annual exhibition, where Rwanda showcased its tourist potential. ITB-Berlin is the world’s leading tourism and trade fair that attracts thousands of travelers, media and visitors worldwide. Ends