Focus Media (Kigali)
12 November 2009
Rwanda is this week participating in the World Travel Market 2009 (WTM), the premier global event for the travel industry held in London from November 9 to 12. Various new tourism offers are on display.
The annual WTM attracts nearly 50,000 exhibitors from over 190 countries. It is an important environment to promote Rwanda as a destination of choice for tourists, especially as they prepare to travel for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The WTM participation is one of several initiatives to lure the 780,000 visitors to Rwanda this year generating an estimated $195 million in tourism revenue.
"Rwanda is proud to be a participant again this year," said Patrick Manzi, Marketing Manager, Rwanda Development Board- Tourism and Conservation. "It is important for our country to seize the unique opportunity WTM provides as it gives us the ability to meet the global travel industry and work with them all under one roof."
Rwanda is showcasing the vast opportunities and new experiences available to tourists. One of the highlights will be a new canopy walk in Nyungwe forest - which, at its completion scheduled for January 2010, will be the first of its kind in the region - which will provide a unique view of the forest, enhance birdwatching and better accommodate children and elderly people who are not capable of hiking steep trails in Nyungwe.
Another novelty at Nyungwe is the Interpretation Center, which is expected to be ready by the end of the year. This center will give a graphic representation of the park so as to give a clear picture on the location of the products offered, thus helping tourists to better choose among the available activities. It will also display how neighboring communities have benefited from the park revenues and their involvement in conservation of the park.
Also on show in London is a high-end 20-seat leisure boat, to be operational by March next year, to better exploit the still largely untapped tourism potential of Lake Kivu. The annual gorilla-naming ceremony Kwita Izina is also be presented.
In order to woe visitors to the fair, the Rwandan delegation will use its award-winning stand which is set up in partnership with 13 companies including tour and travel agencies and the national air carrier, Rwandair Express.
Yet Rwanda will not only be promoting itself. In accordance with the EAC agreement on the joint promotion of tourism, the East African member states will on Wednesday hold a joint cocktail party at the Rwanda stand, where EAC ambassadors and ministers will collaborate in a press conference to market the region with the sole aim of stimulating investment and trade in East Africa.
Rwanda has fully embraced the joint EAC marketing initiative, and is now in a classification process for the tourism facilities and accommodation according to EAC standards . There are also plans to introduce a single tourist visa for the whole East African region.
The London tourism fair is all the more important since the UK ranks as the second largest tourist-generating market for Rwanda. Therefore, RDB- Tourism and Conservation has retained the services of Racepoint Group, a global PR consultancy, to advise on how to maximize their presence at WTM 2009.
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