www.rwandan-flyer.com

20/05/2013

Rwanda’s tourism sector  registered tremendous growth as the revenue generated increased by 17% last year compared to 2011.

The US recorded the highest number of visitors, with 24,041, followed, by India (14,957), UK (13,355), Belgium (9,192) and Germany (9,180).

Tourism generated $281.8m (Rwf178b) in 2012 compared to $251.3m (Rwf159b) the previous year. This corresponds to an increase of 17%, according to 2012 Tourism Report released last week by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB).

Addressing a news conference, Clare Akamanzi, the RDB acting chief executive officer, said hard work put in overtime by the government contributes to the continued growth of the tourism industry.

“The general conducive business environment Rwanda has and specific reforms that have been put in place for tourism such as marketing and infrastructure and high-end tourism strategy, among others, have led to the unprecedented growth of tourism sector in the country,” Akamanzi said.

She said the tourism industry topped export growth again in 2012 which makes it the country’s biggest foreign exchange earner and one of the top job creators.

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The sector projects to generate $317m receipts in 2013, according to export promotion strategy.

The statistics show that visitors from neighbouring countries of DR Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya accounted for 915,000 visits in 2012 compared to 714,000 in 2011. However, visitors from non-neighboring states increased to 161,186 in 2012 from 159,579 in 2011.

Leisure visitors accounted for about 97,000, while business visitors were about 422,000.

The US recorded the highest number of visitors, with 24,041, followed, by India (14,957), UK (13,355), Belgium (9,192) and Germany (9,180).

(SOURCE  : ETHIOSPORT : HERE)