which makes the country the best place for
game viewing.
Similarly, RDB has reintroduced over 130
grey-crowned cranes from people’s homes
where they had fl ed to for several years. In
September 2017, RDB brought back over 30
grey crested from homes all around Kigali.
Swamp warbler and grey-crowned cranes
are among bird species that have been re-
introduced to marshlands of the Akagera
National Park. Travellers are therefore
assured of a memorable bird watching
experience while on a Rwanda safari. Also
LoRa networks, which cover kilometers of
range consuming low power and with fi t
Internet services, make Akagera one of the
fi rst smart parks in Africa.
The country has invested heavily in
infrastructure, such as building inter-city
roads, renovating Kigali International
Airport, facilitating the construction of fi ve-
star hotels and the signing of a deal to build
Bugesera Airport. The airport is expected to
handle 4.5 million passengers annually, seven
times the current traffi c. The government has
also invested in national carrier, RwandAir,
to boost international tourist arrivals to the
country.
Regarding transport, RwandAir’s nine
new routes in Africa, Europe, and Asia are
a great achievement. The national carrier
has opened new routes to Abidjan in Cote
d’Ivoire, Harare (Zimbabwe), Lilongwe
(Malawi), Cotonou (Benin), Khartoum
(Sudan) and Bamako (Mali). RwandAir has
also expanded its operations to European
markets with fl ights to London, Brussels,
and Mumbai, hence an encouragement for
increased tourist arrivals. 13 percent of
Rwanda’s tourists arrive by air and they
contribute roughly 57 percent of the overall
tourism revenue in Rwanda. Also, the
government of Rwanda has heavily invested
in constructing roads to ease movements on
Rwanda safaris to major tourist spots such
as the volcanoes National Park for gorilla
tours, the Akagera national park for game
viewing and Nyungwe Forest National Park
for chimpanzees and canopy walk among
others.
The construction of high-end lodges
providing luxury food and accommodation
services to travelers is Rwanda’s achievement.
The issuing of Rwandan visas to all
tourists with without any prior application is
another strategy that sets Rwanda apart from
other countries. All travelers are given visas
on arrival, which is different from the prior
situation where only nationals of African
countries and few others were getting visas
upon arrival.
Rwanda’s capital city Kigali qualifi es to
be the number one MICE place because
of the following factors:
• An efficient transport network,
connections and airport arrival
processes
• The proximity of MICE facilities to the
airport and public transport facilities
• Hotels with good MICE facilities
(Conference and meeting rooms)
• Cultural attractions in the city
(Museum, theatre & churches like
Kigali Genocide Memorial)
• Shopping (Souvenirs, fashion, local
delicacies & handcrafts like Caplaki
Craft Village)
• Sightseeing and excursions in the
MICE environment; after your
conference in Kigali you can take
a 1-day gorilla trek in Rwanda and
other parks like Akagera and Nyungwe
National Parks.
2018 • RWANDA • 33