During the international year of tourism, The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) and Africa Travel Association (ATA) are proud to present the 41st Annual World Tourism Conference in Kigali, Rwanda.
In collaboration with the Rwanda Development Board, CCA and ATA designed this conference to set the tone for how tourism can be utilized as an engine for economic growth and job creation through innovative business models, new technologies and strategic partnerships.
The conference will also provide a platform to network and explore new tourism markets and products including the promotion and preservation of Africa’s rich cultural heritage and wildlife.
JOIN US TO:
Identify Potential Partners and strengthen existing relationships
Market Your Brand and generate new business leads
Meet Key Stakeholders from the continent’s travel and tourism industry
Discover Innovative Models transforming African tourism
Take Part in Discussions focused on Africa’s tourism market development
Explore Opportunities for investment along the tourism and hospitality value chain
Experience different African destinations and grow your travel services and packages
Engage with government leaders and initiate public-private Partnership discussions
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
Airlines and Logistics Managers
Destination Marketing Professionals
Hotels, Hoteliers and Lodging Establishment Officers
Infrastructure Company Representatives
Investors and Financiers
Marketers and Trend/Research Specialist
National, Regional & City Tourist Officers
Students & Young Professionals
Tour Operators and Travel Agents
Travel Technology Specialists
Travel
Airlines - Africa Travel Association have partnered with a number of airlines to provide discounted travel to Kigali.
Airfare discounts can be found here: http://conference.africatravelassociation.org/airline-partners.html
Hotels - Please visit the conference Housing page to view accommodation options and step by step instructions to reserve to make reservations via MegaReservations.
Visa:
Travelers arriving from any of the following countries are allowed into Rwanda without a visa and may stay up to 90 days:
Hong Kong, Philippines, Mauritius, Singapore and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
EAC Partner states citizens’ shall be issued with 6 months visitors pass (renewable) upon arrival with no fee.
Nationals of Australia, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, Republic of South Africa, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States of America will be issued with entry visa valid for a period up to 30 days and pay for a visa ($30) upon arrival without prior application.
For more information please visit the Rwandan immigration page: http://www.migration.gov.rw/
Vaccines:
There is only one required vaccine for traveling into Rwanda. Please make an appointment with your doctor to obtain a yellow fever vaccine as well as to discuss your options for malaria medications.
You may also wish to check the CDC website for more information: http://www.CDC.go.
Africa Travel Association
A Division of Corporate Council on Africa
Annual World Tourism Conference – Kigali, Rwanda
28-31 August 2017
Agenda
(The agenda below is subject to change.)
MONDAY, AUGUST 28, 2017
7:00 am – 5:00 pm | Registration
8:00 am – 5:00 pm | Site Visits
1:00 pm – 5:00 pm | Professional Development & Capacity Building
2:00pm - 5:00 pm | Special Sessions for Tourism Boards & Authorities
2:45 pm – 4:00 pm | Council of Tourism Ministers (By Invitation Only)
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm | Reception
TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2017
7:30 am – 5:00 pm | Registration/Exhibit hall Open
9:00 am – 9:45 pm | Opening Ceremony
Welcome Remarks
Keynote Address
Plenary: 10:00 am -11:30 am | Unlocking Africa’s Tourism Potential
What are the challenges and opportunities to unlocking the sector’s economic potential across different regions on the continent?
11:30 am -11:45 am | Coffee Break
Breakout: 11:45 am -1:00 pm | The Evolution of Online Travel
In today’s globally digital world, how do companies and countries put themselves on the online map?
How is online booking changing tourism and trends in the region? How can companies adapt and
take advantage of the rise in online booking, mobile payments etc.?
Breakout: 11:45 am -1:00 pm | Financing Tourism Development
Countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and Morocco have experienced continued economic growth, creating demand from institutional investors as well as major tourism and hospitality brands that see expansion into the region as a source of future growth. This panel will examine how countries are positioning themselves to attract private sector investment in the tourism sector; what alternative sources of funding are available for private sector investors; and how companies and governments can harness funding for human resource development, transportation infrastructure, real estate development and more.
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm | Lunch
Plenary 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm | On Location! Africa in the Movies
Discussion with movie production professionals around selecting movie locations in Africa; experiences and challenges; what countries need to do to package/position themselves for location consideration.
Breakout: 3:20 pm – 4:35 pm | The Business of Conservation
As demand for new and sustainable tourism investment continues to rise, there is also increasing awareness of the need to conserve the natural, social and cultural assets of destinations. A healthy environment upholds the competitive advantage of a destination. Panelists will examine opportunities in conservation investment and how principles of sustainable investment are being applied across capital markets. (Safaris, eco-tourism, biodiversity).
Breakout: 3:20 pm – 4:35 pm | Safety and Risk Management in Tourism
What are African governments’ approach to raising security measures to increase tourism? How do companies protect their guests and the industry from safety threats? How do they protect customers, staff, reputation and assets? How do destinations and companies manage this risk to their brand and reputation?
Private Roundtable: 3:20 pm – 4:35 pm | (Tourism Boards)
Roundtable: 4:50 pm – 5:50 pm | Spotlight on East Africa
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2017
7:30 am – 5:00 pm | Registration/Exhibit hall Open
8:00 am – 9:00 am | Annual ATA Membership Meeting
Plenary: 9:00 am – 10:30 am | Connecting the Continent: The Infrastructure of Tourism
What significant investments are being made in logistics, transportation and real estate? On the government side, what policies (open skies, visa) are being made to support private sector efforts and tourism infrastructure development?
Special Presentation: 10:30 am - 10:40 am
10:40 am – 11:00 am | Coffee Break
Breakout: 11:00 am – 12:15 pm | The Business Traveler
Business travel spending is expected to grow by 2.1% in 2016 to USD$12.6 billion, and rise by 3.6% to USD $18 billion in 2026. Business tourists are less cost-sensitive than leisure tourists, spending on average twice as much per day. Their purchase decisions are influenced primarily by their ability to use time efficiently within business travel schedules. How can destinations attract business travelers? What are the competitive trends and how can countries meet business travelers’ needs for both efficiency and relaxation?
Breakout: 11:00 am – 12:15 pm | Bridging the Hospitality Skills Gap
Tourism and hospitality education is key in fueling the growth of the Tourism sector in Africa. Currently, the sector faces a major skills gap in business management and operations and customer service. How are schools partnering with the private sector to ensure a well-trained hospitality workforce? How are some major players in the industry utilizing in-house training to bridge the gap? How can African governments create an enabling environment for strengthening the workforce in the tourism industry by setting high standards for the industry?
Special Presentation: 12:15 pm – 1:15 pm
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm | Lunch
Breakout: 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm | Education: A Sizeable Market for Tourism
Educational tourism is one of the fastest growing areas of the travel and tourism and one that is too often overlooked by tourism professionals and marketers is “educational tourism.” Often educational tourism is called by other names, such as career enhancement, studying abroad, job development or self-actualization experiences. In India, education tourism accounts for 1/3 of its total revenue. How are African countries and universities positioning themselves to attract consumers in higher education?
Breakout: 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm | Lifestyle Tourism: Leveraging Africa’s Diversity
Outside of traditional tour packages, what can countries offer to increase traffic? How can African destinations attract music festivals, culinary festivals, fashion events and Diaspora travel?
Roundtable: 3:30pm – 4:45 pm | Spotlight on Southern Africa
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm | Seated Dinner
THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2017
7:30 am – 5:00 pm | Registration/Exhibit hall Open
Plenary: 9:00 am – 10:30 am | Marketing Africa
Panelists will share best practices on how to sell Africa to foreign markets. What are the mechanisms needed to increase tourism in various regions on the continent? How do you fund such efforts? Plenary will include new media voices including digital influencers.
10:30 am – 11:00 am | Coffee Break
Breakout: 11:00 am – 12:15 pm | Business Models Transforming the Tourism Industry
How are companies and entrepreneur’s new business models shaping the future of tourism on the continent and worldwide?
Roundtable: 11:00 am – 12:15 pm | Spotlight on North Africa
Closing Luncheon: 12:15 pm – 2:00 pm | Destination Rwanda
Facilitated by: Rwanda Development Board
Closing Remarks
Tourism, Travel, Hospitality, Conservation: News,Stories And Experiences From Allover The World
Showing posts with label Africa Travel Association. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Africa Travel Association. Show all posts
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Sunday, 14 May 2017
RWANDA: Rwanda A Hot Cake Destination In Africa
Rwanda has been recognized as a striding and fast-growing tourist destination in East Africa, attracting high-class holidaymakers from China, Europe, and the United States.
Known as the “land of a thousand hills,” Rwanda is standing as a leading and attractive tourist destination, competing with Kenya, which is the tourist power point in East Africa.
Gorilla trekking safaris, rich cultures of the Rwandese people, scenery, and a friendly tourist investment environment available in Rwanda have all made this African nation one of the best and most attractive destinations for global holidaymakers.
Rwanda is coming up and the leading nation in East Africa, attracting regional and global conferences in its capital city of Kigali. More than 30 regional and international conferences are scheduled to take place in Kigali within the remaining months of the year.
The Africa Travel Association (ATA) World Congress is one among many of the key, global tourism gatherings to take place in Kigali this year. Expected to attract over 300 global tourism policy makers and travel trade industry leaders, the ATA Congress will be held in August of this year for the first time in Rwanda since its inception in 1975.
The Africa Hotel Investments Forum (AHIF) is another tourism gathering scheduled in Kigali for October of this year.
China, an emerging global tourist market is as well targeting Rwanda as its outbound safari destination. Chinese firms from Jiangsu Province have expressed interest in Rwanda’s tourism and hospitality sector.
Gao Yan, the director for foreign affairs in Jiangsu Province, said companies from the province are looking at investing in hotels, road construction, and the aviation sector, which are instrumental for growth of the local hospitality and tourism sectors.
“We want to focus on tourism and related sectors, because Rwanda is a top destination in the region. This offers us huge investment opportunities, especially setting up hotels in national parks like Akagera and Nyungwe that have unique experiences,” Gao said.
Gao was previously the second secretary and councilor at the Chinese Embassy in Rwanda, where he spent three years. He added that tourism is one of the projects Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to support in Rwanda.
The tourism industry is Rwanda’s top foreign exchange earner, and government has been positioning the country as a must-visit and conferences destination in the region.
Rwanda is targeted to earn $400 million from tourism last year (2016), up from $318 million in 2015. The country expected tourist and visitor numbers to increase by 4 percent last year, up from 1.3 million recorded in 2015.
Located in eastern China, Jiangsu Province is an industrialized area contributing 10 percent to China’s GDP. The province’s GDP per capita stands at $40,000.
Firms from Jiangsu Province are currently developing 5-star hotels and beach properties in Mauritius and Madagascar, according to Gao.
“Our people are traveling more and more to visit Africa, and Rwanda should be their perfect destination,” he said. He added that companies from the province are being encouraged to diversify into the services sector, a shift from manufacturing and mining.
Known as the “land of a thousand hills,” Rwanda is standing as a leading and attractive tourist destination, competing with Kenya, which is the tourist power point in East Africa.
Gorilla trekking safaris, rich cultures of the Rwandese people, scenery, and a friendly tourist investment environment available in Rwanda have all made this African nation one of the best and most attractive destinations for global holidaymakers.
Rwanda is coming up and the leading nation in East Africa, attracting regional and global conferences in its capital city of Kigali. More than 30 regional and international conferences are scheduled to take place in Kigali within the remaining months of the year.
The Africa Travel Association (ATA) World Congress is one among many of the key, global tourism gatherings to take place in Kigali this year. Expected to attract over 300 global tourism policy makers and travel trade industry leaders, the ATA Congress will be held in August of this year for the first time in Rwanda since its inception in 1975.
The Africa Hotel Investments Forum (AHIF) is another tourism gathering scheduled in Kigali for October of this year.
China, an emerging global tourist market is as well targeting Rwanda as its outbound safari destination. Chinese firms from Jiangsu Province have expressed interest in Rwanda’s tourism and hospitality sector.
Gao Yan, the director for foreign affairs in Jiangsu Province, said companies from the province are looking at investing in hotels, road construction, and the aviation sector, which are instrumental for growth of the local hospitality and tourism sectors.
“We want to focus on tourism and related sectors, because Rwanda is a top destination in the region. This offers us huge investment opportunities, especially setting up hotels in national parks like Akagera and Nyungwe that have unique experiences,” Gao said.
Gao was previously the second secretary and councilor at the Chinese Embassy in Rwanda, where he spent three years. He added that tourism is one of the projects Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to support in Rwanda.
The tourism industry is Rwanda’s top foreign exchange earner, and government has been positioning the country as a must-visit and conferences destination in the region.
Rwanda is targeted to earn $400 million from tourism last year (2016), up from $318 million in 2015. The country expected tourist and visitor numbers to increase by 4 percent last year, up from 1.3 million recorded in 2015.
Located in eastern China, Jiangsu Province is an industrialized area contributing 10 percent to China’s GDP. The province’s GDP per capita stands at $40,000.
Firms from Jiangsu Province are currently developing 5-star hotels and beach properties in Mauritius and Madagascar, according to Gao.
“Our people are traveling more and more to visit Africa, and Rwanda should be their perfect destination,” he said. He added that companies from the province are being encouraged to diversify into the services sector, a shift from manufacturing and mining.
Wednesday, 3 May 2017
RWANDA: Rezidor Opens A Four-star Park Inn In Kigali
The Rezidor Hotel Group, which operates Radisson Blu and Park Inn, will create 160 jobs in the country as it plans to open its second hotel in Kigali.
The country’s local supply chain, which ranges from coffee roasters to vegetable growers will also benefit as the hotel contracts their services.
The four-star Park Inn, which is operated by Radisson Blu, will open next week. It will serve the mid-level traveller in Rwanda. Radisson Blu has become associated with meetings and conventions, especially given that it is linked to the Kigali Convention Centre.
“Guests need more choices and that is what we are providing with the opening of Park Inn,” Thomas Stene, the general manager of Park Inn Kigali told Rwanda Today.
The hotel is located in Kigali’s upscale Kiyovu neighbourhood and initially it was supposed to be operated by Holiday Inn. It was developed by Rwandan construction entrepreneur Joseph Mugisha.
The new Park Inn facility adds 161 rooms to hotel accommodation in Kigali. It joins a competitive market where besides its sister property the Radisson Blu, other big brands such as the Serena and Marriot are already established.
Park Inn will also expand opportunities for local producers such as Question Coffee and the Akilah Institute of Women. Mr Stene said wherever possible, the Park Inn will buy local produce.
“It is to our benefit to buy local supplies of eggs, fruits, meat and vegetables because we want to support local farmers,” he said.
There has been an increase in investment in Rwanda’s hospitality sector in recent years, which has seen the number of beds rise from just 680 beds in 2003, to an estimated 10,000 beds currently.
Mr Stene, who has been with the Rezidor Group for 25 years, said Rwanda is fast becoming a hub for international conferences especially with the new RwandAir flight routes.
“I think there is a need for more international hotels in Kigali because the Rwanda Development Board is doing a fantastic job of attracting large conventions and the new RwandAir flights to Guangzhou in China, Mumbai in India and London in the United Kingdom will also attract more business,” he said .
More than 30 regional and international conferences including the second edition of the African Hotel Investment Forum and the congress of the Africa Travel Association ATA, are scheduled to take place in Kigali over the next seven months.
The number of conference visitors has grown from 15,441 people in 2013, to 25,932 people in 2015 while 1.3 million tourists visited in 2015 bringing in $318 million.
Rwanda’s tourism sector has been bullish, thanks to high-level meetings held in Kigali in 2016.
About 20,000 visitors attended events in Kigali, giving the sector a much-needed boost. It also helped new international hotel brands and the Kigali Convention Centre (KCC) get a foothold in the market.
While the global hotel brands Marriott, Radisson Blu and Park Inn opened their doors to the public, the game-changer was the KCC.
Between June and November, the country hosted 16 big conferences.
They included the World Economic Forum, the African Union Summit, Transform Africa, the Global Africa Investment Summit and the African Nations Championship.
According to data from the Rwanda Development Board, (RDB), the 27th African Union Summit pumped an estimated $4.2 million into the economy while some $2.4 million was received from the WEF.
The government aims to earn $150 million per year from meetings, incentives, conferences and events (Mice). As such, Kigali targets to increase the number of hotel rooms from 8,000 currently to 13,800 in 2017.
The Mice concept is geared towards boosting tourism earnings. In 2013, the country earned $49 million from hosting international meetings. Tourism on the other hand, earned the economy some $340 million in 2015, an increase of 10 per cent from 2014.
The boom in conference tourism comes at a time the country’s export receipts are falling while imports are burgeoning due to massive capital investments in construction coupled with a depreciating Rwandan franc.
The government has invested heavily in infrastructure including building inter-city roads, renovating the airport, facilitating the construction of five-star hotels and inking a deal to build Bugesera Airport, 25km outside Kigali. The airport is expected to handle 4.5 million passengers a year, which is seven times the current traffic.
The aviation industry is critical to the growth of tourism and hospitality. The government has been investing in the national carrier RwandAir, and still continues to do so. In 2016, RwandAir acquired two airbuses and a Boeing 737-800NG, bringing its fleet to 11 aircraft.
As all eyes are on Nairobi for the July 24-26 Global Entrepreneurs Summit that will be graced by US President Barack Obama, Kigali, Rwanda is quietly but steadily building its reputation as a choice destination for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE).
And things seem to be looking up for Rwanda’s MICE sector. Later this year, the country will host the Interpol General Assembly and next year the annual Africa Hotel Investment Forum, the World Economic Forum on Africa and the African Union Summit.
Since 2007, tourism has been Rwanda’s top foreign-exchange earner, generating up to $303 million in 2014 for the exchequer.
Rwanda is currently world famous for its gorillas tracking tours and over the past decade, growing number of tourists have been visiting on the Volcanoes National Park in the Northern Province to see the primates.
In the region, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have established tourism sectors but this has not deterred Rwanda from developing its hotels and conference centres to competitive standards.
Itching to grab a slice of the regional conferencing pie, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) is now moving to make meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions the base of its tourism sector as the country looks to events as one way of diversifying its tourism products and economy.
“We have recently noticed a growing trend of interest in holding international meetings in Rwanda. So, we now have a strategy to promote meetings, conferences and exhibitions in the country,” said Francis Gatare, the chief executive of RDB.
Today, Rwanda can proudly say that it has successfully hosted top international meetings and conferences, including the Transform Africa Summit in October 2013 (which was attended by 1,500 delegates), the African Development Bank Annual General Assembly in May 2014 (2,500 delegates), the Africa Insurance Summit in June 2014 (800 delegates), and the ICTs World Export Development Forum in September 2014 (800 delegates).
“MICE is not only a very powerful marketing tool for the country but also a big revenue generator,” said Yamina Karitanyi, the chief tourism officer at RDB, at a press briefing on July 8 to announce the annual Africa Hotel Investment Forum to be held next year.
Karitanyi’s remarks were based on RDB’s statistics, which show that the MICE sector has become a big boost for Rwanda’s tourism industry in the recent past. In 2014, Rwanda received 1.17 million tourists, of which 19,085 were conference visitors, accounting for 1.6 per cent of the total figure.
And even though leisure remains a vital part of Rwanda’s tourism industry, statistics show that conference visitors spend many times more than leisure tourists. Last year alone, the MICE sector earned Rwanda $50 million, accounting for 16.5 per cent of the total revenues generated from tourism, according to Karitanyi.
Today, Rwanda is ranked 13th most sought after MICE destination on the continent by the International Congress and Convention Association and, according to Frank Murangwa, head of the MICE division at RDB, the country’s MICE sector is growing at a rate of 12 per cent per year.
Rwanda’s MICE appeal lies in the country’s “good security and its record of getting things done,” said Mathew Weihs, managing director of Bench Events, the United Kingdom-based events company that is organising next year’s Africa Hotel Investment Forum.
“Security and the ability to get things done are key issues event organisers consider when choosing a conference venue,” Mr Weihs said. “Now all Rwanda has to do is to make sure that it paints the picture that this is for the long term.”
Increased air connectivity over the years is also one of the factors that have boosted Rwanda’s MICE sector by making the country easily accessible.
The number of international airlines operating in the country has increased from five in 2010 to nine in 2015. South African Airways, Qatar Airways, KLM, Turkish Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Kenya Airways, flydubai, Emirates Cargo and Ethiopian Airlines are all currently operating in Rwanda.
And with the steady revival of RwandAir, the national carrier, things are looking up for the country’s aviation industry. RwandAir is currently connecting up to 18 hubs in East Africa, West Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
Moreover, Africans coming to or transiting through Rwanda don’t need visas prior to travel; they can get them on arrival in the country.
Last year, in a bid to fuel the growth of the sector, the government upgraded the Kigali International Airport, increasing its annual capacity to 1.6 million passengers, up from 600,000 before last year’s expansion works, according to Tonny Barigye, Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority’s communications manager.
The upgrade, which included building new terminals, gates and a VIP lounge, earned the airport the number seven spot in Africa and number one in East Africa in UK-based consultancy firm Skytrax’s airports rankings.
But the government embarked on the expansion of Kigali International Airport only as a short-term solution to the problem of insufficient aviation infrastructure as passenger numbers increased.
For a long-term solution, there are plans to construct a new international airport in Bugesera — 20 kilometres south of Kigali — which is expected to provide both extra capacity for passenger transport and also develop the cargo freight business.
Rwanda’s MICE sector has also been boosted by the fact that English and French are two of its three official languages, which makes the country more international than its East African neighbours, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, which have only English as the official international language.
As the country seeks to establish itself as a quality MICE destination, the government has put in place a number of strategies to satisfy international event organisers who seek luxury conference facilities, one of them being the construction of the Kigali Convention Centre.
The multimillion dollar conference facility, which will have 11 conference rooms with a seating capacity of 2,600 people, a hotel and several bars and restaurants, is expected to open in the first half of 2016.
The RDB believes that the new conference facility will position Rwanda as the leading MICE destination in East Africa.
“With the Kigali Convention Centre, we will be able to bid for bigger conferences that we are not able to host right now,” Mr Murangwa said.
The Kigali Convention Centre aside, a good number of international hotel chains have also set up in the country, including Radisson Blu, Serena, Marriot, Park Inn, Sheraton, Zinc, Protea and Golden Tulip.
All these hotels have the capacity accommodate more than 3,000 people, Mr Murangwa said.
Still, according to industry players, there are still some hurdles to be overcome before the country can realise its target of generating at least $150 million annually in MICE revenues by 2017.
While infrastructure is a major concern, the country cannot ignore competition from neighbouring countries such as Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania that have established themselves as MICE destinations long before Rwanda joined the fray.
“There is no doubt Kampala and Nairobi will give Kigali a run for its money because their MICE sectors are well established. Even though I am optimistic the Kigali Convention Centre will add significant value to our MICE tourism, one cannot compare it to, say, Kenya’s Kenyatta International Convention Centre,” said Darius Dossantos, proprietor of Kings Tours and Travel in Kigali.
However, the tour operator believes that to keep up with neighbouring destinations the RDB shouldn’t completely shift focus to MICE tourism and ignore other segments of the tourism industry.
“You don’t invite a visitor to your house to smile at only you; he should smile at your entire family,” he said. “RDB should make sure that when conference visitors come to Rwanda they also visit our tourist attractions. If they are impressed by what they see outside the conference halls, the chances are that they’ll come back.”
If Rwanda is to be ahead in the game, Mr Weihs said that it should avoid comparing itself with its regional neighbours and focus on competing with more established MICE markets in Europe and Asia.
“By competing with established global markets in the MICE sector, Rwanda will be able to get ahead of its neighbours,” he said.
Away from competition, lack of a skilled labour force in the hospitality sector also poses a major challenge to Rwanda’s MICE ambitions, noted Francine Havugimana, the proprietor of Impala Hotels and current deputy chairperson of the tourism chamber at the Private Sector Federation.
RDB’s Murangwa concurred that skilled labour is a challenge, but said the country will be setting up colleges dedicated to hospitality training. “We have some investors who are interested in investing in hospitality training so we are optimistic that this problem will soon be addressed,” he said.
The country’s local supply chain, which ranges from coffee roasters to vegetable growers will also benefit as the hotel contracts their services.
The four-star Park Inn, which is operated by Radisson Blu, will open next week. It will serve the mid-level traveller in Rwanda. Radisson Blu has become associated with meetings and conventions, especially given that it is linked to the Kigali Convention Centre.
“Guests need more choices and that is what we are providing with the opening of Park Inn,” Thomas Stene, the general manager of Park Inn Kigali told Rwanda Today.
The hotel is located in Kigali’s upscale Kiyovu neighbourhood and initially it was supposed to be operated by Holiday Inn. It was developed by Rwandan construction entrepreneur Joseph Mugisha.
The new Park Inn facility adds 161 rooms to hotel accommodation in Kigali. It joins a competitive market where besides its sister property the Radisson Blu, other big brands such as the Serena and Marriot are already established.
Park Inn will also expand opportunities for local producers such as Question Coffee and the Akilah Institute of Women. Mr Stene said wherever possible, the Park Inn will buy local produce.
“It is to our benefit to buy local supplies of eggs, fruits, meat and vegetables because we want to support local farmers,” he said.
There has been an increase in investment in Rwanda’s hospitality sector in recent years, which has seen the number of beds rise from just 680 beds in 2003, to an estimated 10,000 beds currently.
Mr Stene, who has been with the Rezidor Group for 25 years, said Rwanda is fast becoming a hub for international conferences especially with the new RwandAir flight routes.
“I think there is a need for more international hotels in Kigali because the Rwanda Development Board is doing a fantastic job of attracting large conventions and the new RwandAir flights to Guangzhou in China, Mumbai in India and London in the United Kingdom will also attract more business,” he said .
More than 30 regional and international conferences including the second edition of the African Hotel Investment Forum and the congress of the Africa Travel Association ATA, are scheduled to take place in Kigali over the next seven months.
The number of conference visitors has grown from 15,441 people in 2013, to 25,932 people in 2015 while 1.3 million tourists visited in 2015 bringing in $318 million.
Rwanda’s tourism sector has been bullish, thanks to high-level meetings held in Kigali in 2016.
About 20,000 visitors attended events in Kigali, giving the sector a much-needed boost. It also helped new international hotel brands and the Kigali Convention Centre (KCC) get a foothold in the market.
While the global hotel brands Marriott, Radisson Blu and Park Inn opened their doors to the public, the game-changer was the KCC.
Between June and November, the country hosted 16 big conferences.
They included the World Economic Forum, the African Union Summit, Transform Africa, the Global Africa Investment Summit and the African Nations Championship.
According to data from the Rwanda Development Board, (RDB), the 27th African Union Summit pumped an estimated $4.2 million into the economy while some $2.4 million was received from the WEF.
The government aims to earn $150 million per year from meetings, incentives, conferences and events (Mice). As such, Kigali targets to increase the number of hotel rooms from 8,000 currently to 13,800 in 2017.
The Mice concept is geared towards boosting tourism earnings. In 2013, the country earned $49 million from hosting international meetings. Tourism on the other hand, earned the economy some $340 million in 2015, an increase of 10 per cent from 2014.
The boom in conference tourism comes at a time the country’s export receipts are falling while imports are burgeoning due to massive capital investments in construction coupled with a depreciating Rwandan franc.
The government has invested heavily in infrastructure including building inter-city roads, renovating the airport, facilitating the construction of five-star hotels and inking a deal to build Bugesera Airport, 25km outside Kigali. The airport is expected to handle 4.5 million passengers a year, which is seven times the current traffic.
The aviation industry is critical to the growth of tourism and hospitality. The government has been investing in the national carrier RwandAir, and still continues to do so. In 2016, RwandAir acquired two airbuses and a Boeing 737-800NG, bringing its fleet to 11 aircraft.
As all eyes are on Nairobi for the July 24-26 Global Entrepreneurs Summit that will be graced by US President Barack Obama, Kigali, Rwanda is quietly but steadily building its reputation as a choice destination for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE).
And things seem to be looking up for Rwanda’s MICE sector. Later this year, the country will host the Interpol General Assembly and next year the annual Africa Hotel Investment Forum, the World Economic Forum on Africa and the African Union Summit.
Since 2007, tourism has been Rwanda’s top foreign-exchange earner, generating up to $303 million in 2014 for the exchequer.
Rwanda is currently world famous for its gorillas tracking tours and over the past decade, growing number of tourists have been visiting on the Volcanoes National Park in the Northern Province to see the primates.
In the region, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have established tourism sectors but this has not deterred Rwanda from developing its hotels and conference centres to competitive standards.
Itching to grab a slice of the regional conferencing pie, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) is now moving to make meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions the base of its tourism sector as the country looks to events as one way of diversifying its tourism products and economy.
“We have recently noticed a growing trend of interest in holding international meetings in Rwanda. So, we now have a strategy to promote meetings, conferences and exhibitions in the country,” said Francis Gatare, the chief executive of RDB.
Today, Rwanda can proudly say that it has successfully hosted top international meetings and conferences, including the Transform Africa Summit in October 2013 (which was attended by 1,500 delegates), the African Development Bank Annual General Assembly in May 2014 (2,500 delegates), the Africa Insurance Summit in June 2014 (800 delegates), and the ICTs World Export Development Forum in September 2014 (800 delegates).
“MICE is not only a very powerful marketing tool for the country but also a big revenue generator,” said Yamina Karitanyi, the chief tourism officer at RDB, at a press briefing on July 8 to announce the annual Africa Hotel Investment Forum to be held next year.
Karitanyi’s remarks were based on RDB’s statistics, which show that the MICE sector has become a big boost for Rwanda’s tourism industry in the recent past. In 2014, Rwanda received 1.17 million tourists, of which 19,085 were conference visitors, accounting for 1.6 per cent of the total figure.
And even though leisure remains a vital part of Rwanda’s tourism industry, statistics show that conference visitors spend many times more than leisure tourists. Last year alone, the MICE sector earned Rwanda $50 million, accounting for 16.5 per cent of the total revenues generated from tourism, according to Karitanyi.
Today, Rwanda is ranked 13th most sought after MICE destination on the continent by the International Congress and Convention Association and, according to Frank Murangwa, head of the MICE division at RDB, the country’s MICE sector is growing at a rate of 12 per cent per year.
Rwanda’s MICE appeal lies in the country’s “good security and its record of getting things done,” said Mathew Weihs, managing director of Bench Events, the United Kingdom-based events company that is organising next year’s Africa Hotel Investment Forum.
“Security and the ability to get things done are key issues event organisers consider when choosing a conference venue,” Mr Weihs said. “Now all Rwanda has to do is to make sure that it paints the picture that this is for the long term.”
Increased air connectivity over the years is also one of the factors that have boosted Rwanda’s MICE sector by making the country easily accessible.
The number of international airlines operating in the country has increased from five in 2010 to nine in 2015. South African Airways, Qatar Airways, KLM, Turkish Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Kenya Airways, flydubai, Emirates Cargo and Ethiopian Airlines are all currently operating in Rwanda.
And with the steady revival of RwandAir, the national carrier, things are looking up for the country’s aviation industry. RwandAir is currently connecting up to 18 hubs in East Africa, West Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
Moreover, Africans coming to or transiting through Rwanda don’t need visas prior to travel; they can get them on arrival in the country.
Last year, in a bid to fuel the growth of the sector, the government upgraded the Kigali International Airport, increasing its annual capacity to 1.6 million passengers, up from 600,000 before last year’s expansion works, according to Tonny Barigye, Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority’s communications manager.
The upgrade, which included building new terminals, gates and a VIP lounge, earned the airport the number seven spot in Africa and number one in East Africa in UK-based consultancy firm Skytrax’s airports rankings.
But the government embarked on the expansion of Kigali International Airport only as a short-term solution to the problem of insufficient aviation infrastructure as passenger numbers increased.
For a long-term solution, there are plans to construct a new international airport in Bugesera — 20 kilometres south of Kigali — which is expected to provide both extra capacity for passenger transport and also develop the cargo freight business.
Rwanda’s MICE sector has also been boosted by the fact that English and French are two of its three official languages, which makes the country more international than its East African neighbours, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, which have only English as the official international language.
As the country seeks to establish itself as a quality MICE destination, the government has put in place a number of strategies to satisfy international event organisers who seek luxury conference facilities, one of them being the construction of the Kigali Convention Centre.
The multimillion dollar conference facility, which will have 11 conference rooms with a seating capacity of 2,600 people, a hotel and several bars and restaurants, is expected to open in the first half of 2016.
The RDB believes that the new conference facility will position Rwanda as the leading MICE destination in East Africa.
“With the Kigali Convention Centre, we will be able to bid for bigger conferences that we are not able to host right now,” Mr Murangwa said.
The Kigali Convention Centre aside, a good number of international hotel chains have also set up in the country, including Radisson Blu, Serena, Marriot, Park Inn, Sheraton, Zinc, Protea and Golden Tulip.
All these hotels have the capacity accommodate more than 3,000 people, Mr Murangwa said.
Still, according to industry players, there are still some hurdles to be overcome before the country can realise its target of generating at least $150 million annually in MICE revenues by 2017.
While infrastructure is a major concern, the country cannot ignore competition from neighbouring countries such as Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania that have established themselves as MICE destinations long before Rwanda joined the fray.
“There is no doubt Kampala and Nairobi will give Kigali a run for its money because their MICE sectors are well established. Even though I am optimistic the Kigali Convention Centre will add significant value to our MICE tourism, one cannot compare it to, say, Kenya’s Kenyatta International Convention Centre,” said Darius Dossantos, proprietor of Kings Tours and Travel in Kigali.
However, the tour operator believes that to keep up with neighbouring destinations the RDB shouldn’t completely shift focus to MICE tourism and ignore other segments of the tourism industry.
“You don’t invite a visitor to your house to smile at only you; he should smile at your entire family,” he said. “RDB should make sure that when conference visitors come to Rwanda they also visit our tourist attractions. If they are impressed by what they see outside the conference halls, the chances are that they’ll come back.”
If Rwanda is to be ahead in the game, Mr Weihs said that it should avoid comparing itself with its regional neighbours and focus on competing with more established MICE markets in Europe and Asia.
“By competing with established global markets in the MICE sector, Rwanda will be able to get ahead of its neighbours,” he said.
Away from competition, lack of a skilled labour force in the hospitality sector also poses a major challenge to Rwanda’s MICE ambitions, noted Francine Havugimana, the proprietor of Impala Hotels and current deputy chairperson of the tourism chamber at the Private Sector Federation.
RDB’s Murangwa concurred that skilled labour is a challenge, but said the country will be setting up colleges dedicated to hospitality training. “We have some investors who are interested in investing in hospitality training so we are optimistic that this problem will soon be addressed,” he said.
Monday, 20 June 2016
Single Tourist Destination East Africa
Famous for mountain gorilla and spectacular mountain scenery, Rwanda is set to host the annual Africa Travel Association (ATA) Congress to be taking place in Rwanda’s sprawling city of Kigali November this year.
Bearing a theme of “Destination Africa: The Future of African Tourism”, the the ATA’s 41st Congress will be held in Kigali from November 14 to 17, bringing delegates from Africa, United States, Europe and other parts of the world.
To be taking place in East Africa for three consecutive years, the ATA 41st Congress is set to focus the East African region as the single tourist destination in Africa and best for combined African safari.
ATA 39th Congress was held in Kampala, Uganda in November 2014 and the ATA 40th Congress held in the Kenyan capital Nairobi in November last year.
It will be the first time for Rwanda to host the ATA Congress and where the delegates will get a unique chance to observe Rwanda’s hospitality with a visit to a selected tourist hotspot in this fast growing African safari destination.
Kenya is the first African and the East African state to host the first ATA Congress in 1976 just a year after the association was launched in New York the previous year, 1975, by a group of travel and airline executives.
Other ATA Congress events which took place in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi were the ATA's 10th Annual Congress in 1985, ATA's 20th Annual Congress in 1995, ATA's 30th Annual Congress in 2005 and ATA's 40th Annual Congress in 2015.
Nairobi is the leading African capital to host five ATA annual Congress gatherings and which had attracted key tourist executives and travel experts to East Africa and the African continent as a whole.
Tanzania was a host of two ATA congress events, the ATA's 23rd Annual Congress in 1998 and ATA's 33rd Annual Congress in 2008 and all events took place in the northern tourist city of Arusha.
Uganda was a host of only one ATA congress event, the ATA's 39th Annual Congress in 2014 and which took place in the Ugandan capital of Kampala.
Rwanda becomes the Fourth East African nation to host the ATA's 41st Annual Congress to make the East African region the leading bloc to host Africa’s tourism marketing and promotion forum aimed to expose the continent’s rich tourism and cultural heritage before the world’s tourist source markets.
Reports from the Congress organizers, the Africa Travel Association and Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), said arrangements for the Congress in Kigali were in a positive progress with participation registration open to interested participants.
The East African states are well connected by air, making it easy for international travelers to fly between each of the five capital cities easily in less than three hours’ time. Kenya Airways stands the leading air carrier and the linking airline to all five member states of the East African Community.
Delegates and other ATA Congress participants from United States and other countries outside Africa will travel and connect to Kigali easily from Kenya and Uganda with no visa requirement, but with only a single visa issued by one among the three member states.
To increase competitiveness, the East African Community (EAC), launched a single visa called the EAC visa in 2014, engaging Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.
The East African Community visa allows tourists to purchase a visa at the border, and then enter the other two countries on the same visa, for US$100 in total, for a maximum 90 days. It is only applied in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.
Boastful with tourist attractions, the East African region is best known by its rich wildlife resources and which is the milestone of tourism development in this part of the African continent.
From the Indian Ocean beaches of Zanzibar and Malindi, Mount Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti and Maasai Mara wildlife ecosystem, mountain gorillas in Bwindi and Akagera national parks and the beautiful scenery of the mountains in Rwanda, visitors to East Africa could make a complete itinerary through the regional tour package.
Among key personalities in the list of the ATA’s 41st Annual Congress in Rwanda is the Zimbabwean Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, also the chairperson of the Commission for Africa, under the UN World Tourism Organization Dr. Walter Mzembi.
Bearing a theme of “Destination Africa: The Future of African Tourism”, the the ATA’s 41st Congress will be held in Kigali from November 14 to 17, bringing delegates from Africa, United States, Europe and other parts of the world.
To be taking place in East Africa for three consecutive years, the ATA 41st Congress is set to focus the East African region as the single tourist destination in Africa and best for combined African safari.
ATA 39th Congress was held in Kampala, Uganda in November 2014 and the ATA 40th Congress held in the Kenyan capital Nairobi in November last year.
It will be the first time for Rwanda to host the ATA Congress and where the delegates will get a unique chance to observe Rwanda’s hospitality with a visit to a selected tourist hotspot in this fast growing African safari destination.
Kenya is the first African and the East African state to host the first ATA Congress in 1976 just a year after the association was launched in New York the previous year, 1975, by a group of travel and airline executives.
Other ATA Congress events which took place in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi were the ATA's 10th Annual Congress in 1985, ATA's 20th Annual Congress in 1995, ATA's 30th Annual Congress in 2005 and ATA's 40th Annual Congress in 2015.
Nairobi is the leading African capital to host five ATA annual Congress gatherings and which had attracted key tourist executives and travel experts to East Africa and the African continent as a whole.
Tanzania was a host of two ATA congress events, the ATA's 23rd Annual Congress in 1998 and ATA's 33rd Annual Congress in 2008 and all events took place in the northern tourist city of Arusha.
Uganda was a host of only one ATA congress event, the ATA's 39th Annual Congress in 2014 and which took place in the Ugandan capital of Kampala.
Rwanda becomes the Fourth East African nation to host the ATA's 41st Annual Congress to make the East African region the leading bloc to host Africa’s tourism marketing and promotion forum aimed to expose the continent’s rich tourism and cultural heritage before the world’s tourist source markets.
Reports from the Congress organizers, the Africa Travel Association and Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), said arrangements for the Congress in Kigali were in a positive progress with participation registration open to interested participants.
The East African states are well connected by air, making it easy for international travelers to fly between each of the five capital cities easily in less than three hours’ time. Kenya Airways stands the leading air carrier and the linking airline to all five member states of the East African Community.
Delegates and other ATA Congress participants from United States and other countries outside Africa will travel and connect to Kigali easily from Kenya and Uganda with no visa requirement, but with only a single visa issued by one among the three member states.
To increase competitiveness, the East African Community (EAC), launched a single visa called the EAC visa in 2014, engaging Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.
The East African Community visa allows tourists to purchase a visa at the border, and then enter the other two countries on the same visa, for US$100 in total, for a maximum 90 days. It is only applied in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.
Boastful with tourist attractions, the East African region is best known by its rich wildlife resources and which is the milestone of tourism development in this part of the African continent.
From the Indian Ocean beaches of Zanzibar and Malindi, Mount Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti and Maasai Mara wildlife ecosystem, mountain gorillas in Bwindi and Akagera national parks and the beautiful scenery of the mountains in Rwanda, visitors to East Africa could make a complete itinerary through the regional tour package.
Among key personalities in the list of the ATA’s 41st Annual Congress in Rwanda is the Zimbabwean Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, also the chairperson of the Commission for Africa, under the UN World Tourism Organization Dr. Walter Mzembi.
Wednesday, 13 April 2016
ZIMBABWE: Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Engineer Walter Mzembi Nominated Candidate Of United Nations World Tourism Organisation Secretary-General
The post is currently held by Dr Taleb Rifai of Jordan.
Dr Mzembi will battle it out with other candidates such as Mr Alain St. Ange, Minister for Tourism and Culture in the Seychelles, among others.
Announcing Zimbabwe’s candidature for the post, Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Christopher Mushohwe, said Eng Mzembi also had the backing of the Sadc.
He described Eng Mzembi as one of Zimbabwe’s best candidates ready to serve at the global level.
“The Government of Zimbabwe, as an active member of the UNWTO, has a tried and tested candidate for the position of Secretary-General that falls vacant in 2017,” he said.
“We humbly offer our candidate and in this case, Zimbabwe’s best to the world. Zimbabwe presents Dr Engineer Walter Mzembi, the current Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry and the chairman of the UNWTO Regional Commission for Africa, as the candidate for the position of Secretary-General of the UNWTO.
“As a country we are committed to the growth of global tourism. We are convinced that Dr Eng Mzembi will acquit himself should he be given this honour.”
Dr Mushohwe said Zimbabwe viewed tourism as a sustainable sector that could help in uplifting people’s lives globally.
He described tourism as a diplomatic bridge that helped to keep people connected globally.
“Essentially, tourism plays an important role in (the) socio-economic development of our economies globally,” he said.
“In 2015 alone, the UNWTO Tourism Barometer said tourism contributed about 9 percent in terms of the global GDP, employed over 266 million people worldwide and generated over $1,5 trillion in revenue.
“According to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, in Zimbabwe, tourism is leading in projected growth by 4,1 percent, ahead of mining, manufacturing and agriculture that has unfortunately been adversely affected by the vagaries of the El Nino-induced drought.”
Dr Mushohwe said President Mugabe in his capacity as the Head of State and Government expressed Zimbabwe’s highest commitment to the tourism sector by becoming the 30th signatory of the UNWTO/World Travel and Tourism Council Golden Book on Tourism.
He added that the President was also a recipient of the book’s open letter.
Should he win the election, Eng Mzembi pledged that he would not disappoint Zimbabwe and Africa at large.
“I will not let you down. I wish to say Zimbabwe’s candidature is responding to the clarion call and overtures that have been made by (UNWTO) member states,” he said.
“I wish to confirm and accept very humbly this honour that has been bestowed on me by the Government of Zimbabwe in representing it in this elective process for the position of UNWTO Secretary-General.”
Eng Mzembi paid tribute to President Mugabe for allowing him to take up the challenge of standing as a candidate for a global organisation such as the UNWTO.
“I wish to share with you that last week, I had the pleasure of engaging the President of Zimbabwe on this subject and he gave me his absolute assurance that he is with me and he is with you as Team Zimbabwe in this campaign.”
The UNWTO has a membership of 157 countries, six associate members and 480 affiliate members representing the private sector, educational institutions, tourism associations and local tourism authorities.
Zimbabwe joined the organisation in 1982.
Eng Mzembi has been in charge of a number of portfolios in both the private and public sectors, and he has been awarded various tourism-related accolades at national, regional and international levels.
He put himself on the international map when Zimbabwe and Zambia successfully co-hosted the 20th session of the UNWTO General Assembly in August 2013.
Some of the tourism-related positions he has held include: chairperson, Southern Africa Development Community Committee of Ministers Responsible for Tourism (2015); Executive Council Member, UNWTO (2013); Regional Commission for Africa chairperson, UNWTO (2013 to date); three-time president of African Travel Association; Tourism Builder of the Year (2014); African Tourism Minister of the Year (2011); Africa Travel Association: Outstanding Service to the Association (2012); Special Recognition for Excellence Award: African Achievers Awards (2012), among others.
Eng Mzembi is a holder of doctorate degree in Business Management from Aldersgate University College, in the Philippines. His dissertation is titled “An Exploratory Study of Conservation Management in Zimbabwe: A Governance Perspective”.
He is also holds a Master of Business Administration and Production Management (Azteca, Mexico); a diploma in Mechanical Engineering (Northern Technical College, Zambia), among others.
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