What The African Grand Prix Means For Rwanda Tourism

For more than a decade, Rwanda has invested in advertising with major football teams around Europe. This effort has been met with quite a lot of mixed reactions. The Democratic Republic of Congo has come out on several occasions to call Rwanda’s sports sponsorships a form of sports washing of its atrocities. Though at first this seemed like mere noise, it later paid off. Arsenal and Bayern Munich had to revise their relationships with Rwanda, which also made Rwanda run to Aston Villa for another shirt sponsorship.

It was already clear in Formula One circles that the African Grand Prix was going to return. What had not yet been agreed upon was where this Grand Prix was going to be hosted. There are four other major contenders against Rwanda. Those are Zanzibar, South Africa, Nigeria, and Morocco. Of these, Morocco and South Africa had already hosted the Grand Prix in the past. Rwanda seemed more sustainable since its plan was state-backed.

However, though Rwanda won the deal, the journey is not yet over. There are mainly three hurdles they still have to jump. These are the diplomatic pressure related to the M23 scandal, the corporate pressure that might push against sponsorships from some brands, and lastly the economic hurdles. It is not the first time that Rwanda has faced similar hurdles whenever its name features in international headlines. We saw the negative media campaign that followed the asylum deal with the UK. A similar media move could be seen in attempts to disqualify Rwanda.

What this means for Rwanda Tourism

Though the country has 1.4 million official visitors per year, it is less than 300,000 individuals  who usually visit specifically to travel around Rwanda. In a country where 300,000 visitors are usually spread out throughout the year, hosting more than 300,000 people in less than a week would require a lot of infrastructure. The country currently has less than 100,000 beds. There is a lot of construction that is going to happen, but the most important question is whether Rwanda can sustain the numbers in regard to other tourism activities.

Rwanda has gorilla trekking as its main tourism icon. On top of this, it has chimpanzee tracking in Nyungwe forest national park. Both these activities are found in the primate parks  that have a cap on how many people are allowed to participating in the trekking per day. There is a likelihood that Rwanda might revise its gorilla trekking rates as well as Uganda its neighbor. With such a huge group of people expected to visit Rwanda in a span of one week, the country will also come up with  a lot of short travel itineraries.

The country has not yet shared its tourism plan come 2030 but there is a likelihood that rates will be revised in the near future. However it is also important to note that even though Rwanda has secured this deal, it is not a guarantee that it will come to pass. We recently saw Rwanda secure the asylum deal that later fell apart due to media pressures. It is not clear whether this even will suffer a similar fate.

Africa Cup Of Nations

The Africa cup of nations East African edition is setting the ground of the interconnectivity of East Africa. Recently, the East African parliament has been suggesting treating the East African airspace as a single air space. This will reduce the flight costs and also make the interconnectivity of the East African safaris easier. Currently, a Flight from Kigali to Nairobi cost almost falls with in a similar price range like a flight from Kigali to Dubai. In case this plan succeeds, it will be setting a solid ground for the African grand prix travels.