Speaking at a forum put together by the East
African Tourism platform (EATP) on the side-lines of the recently concluded
Kwita- Izina gorilla naming ceremony in Kigali, the players committed to
targeting to tap into at least 10 percent of the 140 million population in the
region.
Bonita Mutoni, the Managing Director of Uber Luxe Safaris, a Rwandan
tour operator says the introduction of the Single Tourist Visa has increased
her tourist client numbers by threefold,
barely two years since it was introduced.
“The growth has been huge given the short period of time. The Single
Tourist Visa and National ID use has made it easier for tourists and traders to
travel around the three countries encouraging more of them to come,” she noted.
EATP, which comprises of private sector tourism
umbrella bodies of the East African Community countries and tour operators, had
its members convene at the Kigali Serena Hotel in a networking session where
they discussed opportunities and challenges in the region’s tourism sector.
“We are moving into packaging our region as one
destination, celebrating flagship tourism events and finding solutions to
challenges together, which wasn’t happening before,” said Carmen Nibigira, the EATP Regional
Coordinator.
The meeting came on the back of celebrating over a
year of the operationalization of the Single Tourist Visa that has allowed
easier travel and trade between the three member countries Kenya, Uganda and
Rwanda.
With the Visa, foreigners can visit attractions in
Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda on paying a fee of $100(Ksh 10,600)
“The idea here is to sell the region as a one
destination with 3 unique attractions that any visitor to the East African
region can enjoy,” Ms Nibigira explained.
An estimated 4000 Single Tourist Visas have been
issued since the launch of the same in February 2014.This represents a month on
month improvement from an average of the 156 Visas sold in the 10 months to
December last year, to 305 this year.
Kenya Tourism Federation Acting CEO Susan Ongalo
reported an increased interest by members of the private sector umbrella body
to participate in these regional forums with a view of partnering and working
with other players in member countries to develop unique East African Products.
“I came along with a delegation of 12 Kenyan
tourism private sector players and County Ministers for tourism who were keen
to travel using their National Identification cards in order to better
understand the process while cross selling products within the region,” Ms
Ongalo said.
The Three countries have picked Flagship products
to cross sell within the region. Kenya will host the Magical Kenya Expo, Rwanda
Kwita Izina and Uganda, Martyrs Day.
“For us as stakeholders in Kenya, the most important thing is that we
are now taking this step. We started with Magical Kenya in October as an anchor
flagship program to market the three destinations and we have so far got quite
a lot of interest from Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi as well as a bit of interest
from Tanzania,” said Mike Macharia CEO of Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers
and a Board Member of the Kenya Tourism Federation
Mr Macharia revealed that processes are already underway within the
joint marketing initiative to streamline hotel classification within the East
Africa region with a view of harmonising the product by 2016.
“This is necessary so that if a visitor stays in a 5 star hotel in
Kenya, the standards are the same as a hotel in Kigali or Uganda and
otherwise,” he explained
Macharia observed that though there have been questions raised as to
when Burundi and Tanzania were coming in; there was a contingent from Burundi
attending the Kwita Izina events, showing the region’s commitment in
integrating their tourism sectors.
“The whole idea is to enhance tourism for the countries and not just
promote three countries and leave out the rest. Hopefully we can move into
Southern Sudan and Ethiopia at some point,” he noted.
Ms Nibigira reiterated EATP’s commitment to seeing a vibrant and diverse
single tourist destination that provides exceptional experiences to domestic,
regional and international tourists.
The networking session served as a beginning of a series of events EATP
will be holding across the region to encourage the tourism private sector to
look at the EAC as a growing tourism market and a destination with multiple
products and service offerings.
Some of the noted progress made so far in the region include the
introduction of the East African Single Tourist Visa and the use of national
identification cards (IDs) for travelling within the three countries; Kenya,
Uganda and Rwanda.
Via Agencies.
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