Local firm spearheads Rwanda’s new face of tourism

ECONOMY:Turning Rwanda into a tourist destinationIn line with international trends in the holiday and travel industry, tourism in Rwanda has acquired a new face with the focus now shifting to culture, the way of life and community development.This is in addition to the traditional and more popular eco-tourism, gorilla tracking and game drives in the three national parks; although they still remain the most adventurous areas to visit and the main revenue earner for the tourism sector. A leading light in this new direction is New Dawn Associate (NDA), a tour company established and managed by Anny Batamaliza, a Rwandan entrepreneur, who has managed to get the right mixture of business and support for the more vulnerable members of the communities in which she operates.NDA is a social enterprise that offers tourism destinations for special interest groups, as well as event management services in Rwanda. “Rwanda is beyond the gorillas, the great mountains and the national parks; Rwanda is precious itself, the way we live is unique and draws the attention of the world,” said Batamuliza, in an interview with The New Times. She says NDA provides an exceptional, innovative and professional service in the industry in terms of destination and event management. It therefore creates meaningful opportunities for local partners and community development.Community-based tourism enables tourists to discover local habitats and wildlife, and celebrates and respects traditional cultures and wisdom. It is also a celebration of the African way of life.“Our overall goal is to contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable development for the local communities. We do this by helping them establish and organise themselves into co-operatives and by setting up funds to manage their own finances,” says Batamuliza. “NDA uses profit share ring mechanism where 70% of the profit goes to community fund and is distributed through Educational fund and Health care fund to all community, and cooperative members,” she explained.According to her, NDA has set up five projects that are fully managed and benefit the communities. The projects assist tourists learn about Rwanda‘s culture, the joys and hardships of the people, and specific subjects of importance to the country’s general development.The Millennium Village Tour is one of the projects that NDA runs. Tourists who visit the projects learn first-hand about issues such as agriculture, education, health care, infrastructure and micro-enterprise development. This is combined with geographical and historical introductions, as well as cultural and culinary interaction.“The way these experiences are presented leaves the tourists impressed. Some even take the step making donations to the community; one tourist donated 15 computers to the village while another one paid health insurance to 66 women and children,” said Batamuliza. Speaking to The New Times on the initiative, the Executive Secretary of Mayange Sector, François Nkurunziza, where the village is located said that when NDA brings tourists, there are financial incentives given to the people who entertain and taken care of them. “NDA also allocates a certain percentage of their profits to community development projects. In the first year they gave us Rwf 1.5million which we used to purchase doors for the houses that had been constructed by the Army during the army week,” he said. “NDA also donated Rwf2.5million. This year they are expecting a bigger cheque from them which we will be spend on improving the social welfare of the community. Batamuliza says the highlight of the tours is the “This is Africa” experience, which is another project with introduces tourists to life in a bustling multi-cultural commercial suburb with a typical African flair. Young and charming single women of Nyamirambo take the tourists’ hands to guide them to the hair saloon, the West African tailor, the Muslim quarter, the local market and one of their private homes where they will have a cooking lesson and lunch of a pure African meal. NDA also supports the Humure project of Rwandan returnees who were ejected from Tanzania in late 2006 and resettled in Akagera National Park. Tourists participate in the daily lives and cultural customs.The president of the project, Flora Nyabutono, said that since they started working with tourist who visit their area and resident have made some money. “We charge Rwf17, 000 per tourist. Out of that Rwf12, 000 remains with us while Rwf 5,000 is put in the Fund which we established to invest the money. This has highly benefited us,” said Nyabutono. So far residents have built a tourists reception house which cost them about Rwf1million. “NDA gave us a vehicle which we used in the construction of the house. People enjoy socialising with the tourists and the numbers of those who visit us keep increasing,” she added.NDA also runs the ‘From Crop to Cup’ experience, which combines the stunning scenery of Lake Kivu with an educational excursion where tourists learn about the coffee growing process. Tourists learn hands-on about the entire coffee production chain. They pick their own coffee cherries and follow them through the various steps of coffee washing and end up enjoying a cup of hand-grinded and traditionally roasted coffee together with their local hosts.The NDA also arranges the ‘Dancing Pots’, which offers tourists a unique opportunity to learn about and interact with a community of historically marginalised people. The members of Abatigayubuke association are using their famous traditional skills of pottery and performing arts to make a living and to showcase how they have become fully integrated into the area’s social life and structures.Although The New Times was unable to reach the Head of Tourism and Conservation in Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Rica Rwigamba to discuss the current status of Community Based-Tourism in Rwanda, she had, in a recent interview, said the country has a different story to tell. She said that, communities have benefited directly from tourism and over 252,000 people are directly employed by the sector.