RWANDA: Most Expensive Tourist Destination In East Africa Community, After Rwanda Doubles Gorilla Permit Fees

Rwanda Development Board announced an increase in Gorilla Permits from US$ 750 to US $1,500 for all visitors effective immediately.

A new exclusive package for tourists who wish to book an entire family of gorillas was also introduced at US$ 15,000, and will receive exclusive personalized tour guide services.

The price increase will not affect tourists who had already purchased their tickets at the time of this announcement.

Tourists who visit other national parks,Nyungwe and Akagera for a minimum of three days, in addition to gorilla trekking will receive a discount of 30%. Similarly, conference tourists, who stay pre or post conference dates to see gorillas will be eligible for a 15% discount.

According to Rwanda tourism strategy, the price increase aims to strengthen conservation efforts and contribute more to the development of communities living around the Volcanoes National Park.

Along with the new tariff, the tourism revenue sharing rate for communities adjacent to the park, will also increase from 5% to 10%, which will quadruple the absolute revenues received by communities.

More than 400 community projects have been completed including hospitals, schools, business development centers and water supply systems to facilitate access to clean water. The projects surely benefit the people living around the parks.

Ms. Clare Akamanzi, the Chief Executive Officer at Rwanda Development Board says Gorilla trekking is a highly unique experience. We have raised the price of permits in order to ensure sustainability of conservation initiatives and enhance visitors experience.

We also want to make sure that the communities living near the park area receive a bigger share of tourism revenues to fund development projects and empower them economically, he added.

New, high-end lodges are opening in Musanze and plans are underway to improve visitors’ experience at Kinigi, including renovation of the information center to equip it with modern offices and tourism services such as conservation education, children’s learning space as well as digital facilities.

Mountain gorillas are an endangered species with only around 880 remaining in the world. Of those in in the Virunga Massif, Rwanda accounts for 62% of the gorilla population.

Stringent conservation measures have significantly contributed to a rise in gorilla numbers. There are currently 20 families habituated for tourism and research in Rwanda, making more than 9 families in 2010.

Reactions from the tourism fraternity in Rwanda were swift and harsh, denouncing the doubling of the tariffs without notice as unacceptable and calling for a suspension of the measure.

Many tour operators around the world have published package prices based in the tracking permit costing 750 US Dollars,, the highest among the three gorilla countries of Rwanda, Uganda and Congo,asking RDB to respect contractual commitments and giving a decent notice of the tariff increase of up to one year and not making increases abruptly all the time.

Apart from the wisdom to double the permit fee is the no notice period a major cause for concern. This will put Rwanda in a bad light abroad that we cannot respect proper notice periods like all other regional wildlife management bodies do, says a Gorilla tour operator in Rwanda.

Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania all give as much as a year notice of planned fee revisions. What is the urgency now to do this without observing regional practice?.

That is madness, says a lady gorilla Tour Operator,this will kill our business. Rare animals or not, there is a limit to what the market can accept and sell and I see sales nosediving which will affect all of us who invested in cars and marketing expenses.

Uganda in contrast not only charges just US Dollars 600 for foreign tourists but also offers tariff reductions to US Dollars 450 for the months of April, May and November, something Rwanda has never done even though they too experience a low season and lower demand periods.

Yet another Gorilla Tour operator says Uganda is now going to benefit from more than 50% of Rwanda destined tourists, they will not go for the new fees, they can not just double permit fees like that, she Lamented.

With the doubling of Gorilla permit fees, rwanda definately becomes the most expensive tourist destination in East Africa Community.

RWANDA: One & Only To Manage Nyungwe Forest Lodge,Hilton To Manage Ubumwe Grand hotel

Global hotel chain Hilton is close to concluding a management agreement with Ubumwe Grand Hotel after a dispute between the developers and Zinc Hotels, saw the property trade under a traditional name.

Hilton will operate the hotel under its Doubletree brand. This will enable it to gain a foothold to compete against other global hotel brands such as Rezidor’s Radisson Blu and Park Inn and The Marriott, among others.

“Doubletree, which is one of the Hilton brands, is in advanced stages of taking over Ubumwe, but the deal is yet to be signed but it is close,” said a source close to the deal who asked for anonymity.

The $40 million property initially opened its doors as Zinc hotel and was jointly owned by CG Corp Global — a company belonging to Nepalese billionaire Binod Chaudhary — the Mukwano Group under Acacia Properties and Robert Bapfakurera — the only local partner.

Acacia Properties cancelled the management agreement it had with CG Corp’s Zinc Hotels. It is understood that this matter is still under arbitration.

Local stockholder Robert Bapfakurera, declined to comment until the deal is finalised.

“At this moment the hotel is still Ubumwe Grand Hotel, when the time comes and the company deems it a good time to share, we shall let you know,” he said.

A number of global hotel brands, like movenpick from Switzerland, Ascot Group, Protea and City Lodge are reportedly keen on venturing into the Rwandan market but have so far failed to find properties to manage.

The government said there is a need for more international hotel brands in the country as they attract more visitors.

Industry analysts say that although Ubumwe Grand Hotel has done a good job of building its profile, it will benefit from the international distribution channels and brand recognition that Hilton brings.

Meanwhile,One & Only Resorts, a global hospitality brand that mainly invests in beach resorts, residences and luxury hotels, has added Rwanda’s Nyungwe Forest Lodge and Gorilla’s Nest to its portfolio.

The two properties, one located in the Nyungwe Forest and the other in the Volcanoes National Park in Kinigi, Northern Province have been rebranded as One & Only Nyungwe House and One & Only Gorilla’s Nest.

One & Only Nyungwe House, which was previously managed by Dubai World, opens its doors in July while the Gorilla’s Nest will open in 2018.

I am thrilled we are able to continue to evolve the One & Only experience, providing once-in-a-lifetime experiences for our guests, said Philippe Zuber, president and chief operating officer of One & Only Resorts.

Rwanda becomes the third African market for One & Only Resorts after South Africa and Mauritius where the global hotel brand runs beach resorts. It has other properties around the world.

The global hotel brand plans to capitalise on nature and adventure tourism with One & Only Nyungwe House and One & Only Gorilla’s Nest.

Frank Mustaff, the country director of Horwath HTL, a hospitality consulting group believes these new One & Only resorts could bring in new visitors and create tourism opportunities for the country.

They will market these new properties and raise awareness about Rwanda with their global clients, Mr Mustaff said.

The two properties will capitalise on the conservation activities in the two locations with guests to One & Only Nyungwe House getting to track primates and trekking the Kamiranzovu swamp among other experiences.

The property is located in Gisakura, a tea plantation at the edge of Nyungwe National park.

One & Only Gorilla’s Nest will offer the gorilla tracking experience and views of local hills in Northern Province and slopes of Volcanoes National Park among others.

Rwanda is an incredible destination that offers once-in-a-lifetime experiences. We look forward to enabling our guests to explore the country and its culture and provide them with the ultimate connection to nature, a statement from the group said.

The Nyungwe National Park received 11,000 visitors in 2016, up from 9,000 the previous year.

According to Mr Mustaff, mountain gorilla tourism can be marketed as luxury experience in the country.

On average, gorilla trekking can cost a couple $5,000, so I would consider this to be luxury tourism, he said.

But he added that more products are needed to diversify the country’s luxury tourism offering.

RWANDA: Preserve Nyungwe Park

40 per cent of fresh water in the country, the furthest source of River Nile and contributor of 30 per cent of national tourism revenue and you get Nyungwe National Park.

But all this is now threatened by poverty, say officials and conservationists. According to the two groups, it is poverty that is pushing members of the communities around the park into poaching and illegal mining.

Such unauthorised activities are a risk to biodiversity conservation in the natural forest, which plays a key ecological and economic role not just to the country but also to the region.

Now an anti-poaching campaign has been launched to sensitise the communities surrounding the park to get involved in conservation efforts.

One such member of the community is Bosco Nkezahayo, a former poacher from Nyamasheke district, who told Rwanda Today that poaching was his main source of income for 13 years.

“I used to make money out of poaching to buy cooking oil and salt,” he said after an anti-campaign launch, where 150kg of elephant tusks, weapons used in poaching and equipment used for illegal mining were burnt in a symbolic event to fight poaching.

According to Nyungwe park manager Louis Rugerinyange, 1kg of elephant tusks is sold at $2,500 on the black market.

Most animals targeted are boars and duikers but the forest also hosted elephants which have been extinct, the last was seen in 1999. Elephant tusks were seized as they were trafficked through the country.

Mr Nkezahayo said many poachers have formed co-operatives for income generating projects but there are still others who are involved in illegal wildlife activities.

“Because when he easily gets around Rwf7,000($9) per week, he stays and attracts others,” he said.

The 1,020-square kilometre Nyungwe Forest stretches across five districts and Burundi (where it’s called Kibira).

Experts root for economic empowerment in ending poaching and other illegal wildlife activities.

According to the tourism revenue sharing programme, five per cent of tourism revenues goes to community development around parks.

Nyungwe receives 30 per cent, Akagera 30 per cent and Virunga, the biggest attraction, receives 40 per cent.

“Five per cent is not enough but it helps the communities around the park,” said Mr Rugerinyange.

Funds from the revenue sharing programme are invested in income generating projects such as bee keeping and community development initiatives such as education and clean water access.

“The key conservation challenge around the park is the high population density and poverty levels that is why we put our efforts a lot to try to help them get out of that,” said Mr Rugerinyange.

Lest year, 9,560 tourists visited Nyungwe park, a number the authorities hope will increase this year the number will increase as last year total number is about to be reached before the high season which is December holidays.