Rwanda’s efforts to turn the country into one of the most alluring tourism destinations in the world seem to be paying off with its emergence as Africa’s top destination to travel to in 2020 and among the top 30 globally. This was released in a new ranking by travel group Travel Lemming which tracks trending destinations around the world as a solution to over tourism.
Among the attributes that were listed by voters on why Rwanda was an ideal destination is the growing connectivity via the national carrier RwandAir, safety and conservation efforts. It could be recalled that the World Economic Forum recently named Rwanda as the safest country in Africa and RwandAir slated to open direct flights from JFK (New York) to Kigali, 2020 is the best year yet to travel to Rwanda. This East African pearl is changing the African travel narrative in so many ways.
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Chief Tourism Officer of the Rwanda Development Board Belise Kariza noted that this is in recognition of efforts of sector stakeholders in continuously improving Rwanda as a tourism destination. She noted that “visit Rwanda shares this award with the community members, conservationists, tourism operators and hoteliers who contribute every day to making Rwanda a special place to visit.”
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Speaking on the development, Amarachi Ekekwe, one of the judges on the panel noted that “it will be exciting to visit Kigali to see its amazing transformation and to see the conservation efforts at its national parks”. Rwanda is at the top of my list to visit in Africa to experience its cultural mix and beautiful natural surrounds. While most people go to see the gorillas there are lots of other cultural heritage sites and experiences to be had,” added Amanda Mouttaki, another judge and the travel blogger behind Maroc Mama.
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Travel Lemming is a travel blog founded by Nate Hake, an American who has been traveling the world full-time since 2016. The site’s mission is to help highlight emerging and underappreciated destinations as a way to fight over tourism. In October, Rwanda featured on Forbes’ list of the 20 best places to visit in 2020.
The exclusive list, drawn up based on sales and client aspirations, was made by travel agents of the Ovation Travel Group, a 35-year-old $1.4 billion travel company.A month ago, Rwanda’s tourism brand, ‘Visit Rwanda’ won a top award for destination excellence in luxury and experiential travel at the 2019 Luxperience Awards in Sydney, Australia. The Luxperience Travel Trade Exhibition is a luxury Business event that connects the most innovative experiential tourism and premium events specialists in the travel market.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.