Rwanda Pushes for Visa free For Tourists who visit East African Single Tourist Destination



By ADAM IHUCHA
Rwanda is pushing for the East African partner states to relax visa rules, ahead of a single tourists visa roll out, to woo more tourists to the region.

Kigali precisely, demands Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania to waive visa fees, in a bid to spur massive tourists flow.

Already, Kigali has tabled its proposal to the EAC Sectoral Council, seeking the ministerial support, to push the waiver visa fees for tourists.

In a document seen by this reporter, Rwanda argues that the benefits of waiving the visa fees are far higher, than the amount of money collected from the same.

The outgoing EAC Director for productive sectors, Dr. Nyamajeje Weggoro said that the Kigali’s bid is an apt form of stimulating the economies of scale.

“Rwanda’s proposal means that through free-visa the EAC region would draw more tourists who in turn would bring more money that would stimulate all sectors of economy,” Dr. Weggoro explained.

The Kigali’s proposal comes amid a backdrop of the EAC plan mooted to boost tourism earnings from $7 billion to $16 billion by 2020.

Principal tourism officer at the EAC secretariat, Mr Shadrack Mashauri said the blueprint would see the region doubles the number of tourists from five to 10 millions in the next seven years.

The plan shows that travel and tourism capital investment in tourism infrastructures and marketing the region as a single destination, would be augmented to hit $3.95 billion in 2020, up from the current $1.65 billion.

EAC technocrats therefore believe that the Kigali’s latest bid to waiver visa fee, if approved, would be a major boost to their drive to double foreign tourists arrival.

However, there’s an argument that the Kigali’s idea would deny the EAC member countries the much-needed revenues accrued from visa to finance their budgets. 

Indeed, the EAC member states collect a substantial amount of money from visa fees; a factor that analysts say might make Kigali idea to flop.

It is understood; Kenya and Tanzania charge $50 for single-entry visas and $100 for multiple entry visas for each applicant.

Tanzania, for instance, in 2012 earned over $50 million in single entry visas fee alone-- respectable income indeed in a country where the official annual tourism earnings stand at a $1.4 billion.

Tanzania Tourists Board Managing Director, Dr. Aloyce Nzuki said that a visa fee is not deterrent for tourists flow.

“The cumbersome process for tourists to acquire visa is the major hindrance rather than fees. We need to issue visa online like India, if we want massive tourists flow” Dr. Nzuri said.

It is arguably that online visa application will save tourists time and the anguish of having to hop from one embassy to another to seek for different visas to visit EA region.

Analysts say Kigali needs to come up with alternative means to mitigate the loss of the income from visa fee waiver and the evidence that move would encourage more tourists.

Tumaini University Makumira (TUMA) Lecturer, Elifuraha Laltaika said that there is no direct connection between payment of visa fee and flow of tourists.

“I am not convinced that someone can have enough money to spend as a tourist and find visa fee to be so expensive to the extent of discouraging her or him to come to East Africa” Mr Laltaika said.

The visa fees should not be abandoned, for the purpose of increasing tourists, he said, arguing that move would unnecessarily deny the poor countries the income.

In his view, Mr Laltaika said the major obstacle for the region tourism growth in the EAC, is poor infrastructure, uncoordinated marketing blitzes, and incapacitated tourism human resources. 


The sectoral council which met in Burundi a fortnight ago agreed 2014 as an apt time for the roll out of a long-overdue single visa, to give an ample time for harmonization of visa application questions, procedures, visa categories and formats in addition to visa fee management.

The immigration management systems as well as ICT systems used by the partner states to network with border points and embassies also would be harmonized.

All partner states immigration departments need to have the sophisticated ICT equipment that will not only allow them to exchange security data, but also to control forged visas.

“We need competent human resources to man this system in order to be efficient to avoid frustrating tourists in the process” Dr. Weggoro explained.

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