To pay tribute to Rwanda’s enormous efforts to steadily protect and promote her natural resources to achieve considerably greater sustainability and preservation, the tourism industry of Rwanda has been awarded the Global Tourism Leadership Award from the World Tours and Tourism Council (WTTC). At the World Travel Market (WTM) as of late held in November 2017, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame was perceived for his commitment to Rwanda’s conservation and sustainable tourism.
This small landlocked country endured a violent genocide in 1994 and 10 years down the recuperation path, Rwanda got recognized by the international community as one of the safest nations to visit on the African continent with a major focus on conference tourism, cultural tourism and ecotourism. The nation has found a way to market and protect her natural resources that today is perceived as one of Africa’s best tourism destinations.
In 2015, the Rwandan government with the coordinated effort of African parks re-introduced lions in Akagera National Park in endeavors to revive the national park’s wildlife diversity to receive more tourists searching for wildlife. Later eastern rhinos were additionally reintroduced to in the park with the end goal to raise the status of Akagera National Park.
Rwanda has taken a high ground on promoting high-end tourism when she took a bold stand on doubling the cost of her permits for watching mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park. The government aimed at reducing the pressure Volcanoes National Park the home to mountain gorillas which would intern became a risk on the lives of these critically endangered animals living in the national park. Despite the fact that, increasing the price of gorilla permits was gotten with contrary sentiments, the country managed to reduce the number of people planning to go for gorilla trekking while receiving less tourists who can afford the high. Only one year not far off, Volcanoes National Park is more natural with less tourists trekking through it in search for mountain gorillas.
Rwanda is focused on promoting conservation and even contributing to the eradication of poverty in the country by directly involving locals living around the national parks as they benefit from the tourism industry through employment opportunities as tour guides, staff at lodges, supply of goods and services and also dividends from profits gained from sells of gorilla permits.
As a result of the nation’s reasonable commitment to conservation, Rwanda has gotten various splendid foreign investments. According the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), the nation has enrolled investment projects worth US$ 184.1m from 2012 which is anticipated to make more than 1,000 jobs for the citizens. Among the investors are big name hotel brands like Radisson, Marriott International, Wilderness Safaris, one and only and among others are coming up.
