By The New Times
Tourism industry
stakeholders are buoyant about the sector's future prospects following
Rwanda's impressive showing at the just-ended ITB Travel Exhibition in
Berlin, Germany. The country won two accolades; the best of the best
exhibitor and the best continental exhibitor, at one of the world's
biggest tourism expos.
This is great news for the country and sector players. However, they
should not rest on their laurels. Instead, tourism industry players
should use the awards and recognition as a launch pad to market the
country and its many tourism attractions to attract more visitors. In
short, this is not the time to bask in glory and think we have achieved
it all.
How to translate the success at the Berlin expo into more numbers and
revenues should be the question. Therefore, we can't afford to relax,
but rather to invigorate our efforts using the awards as a marketing
opportunity to attract more tourists into the country.
The feat should challenge tourism sector stakeholders to aim for the
sky; by reaching out to all segments of the tourism market to boost
volumes and revenues.
Now is the time to expand the country's tourist attractions,
especially by working on those projects that have stalled, like building
a cultural village in Gasabo District. Is there a way the tripartite
initiative with Kenya and Uganda can be improved to make it more
appealing to tourists? Also, a lot of emphasis has been put on
attracting foreign visitors forgetting the potential of local tourism.
So, Rwanda Development Board and sector players should do more to attract domestic tourists.
Therefore, as we toast, let's remember that there is still a lot to be done to make Rwanda a must visit tourist destination.
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