The Rwanda Development Board has announced an increase in the price of gorilla permits from $750 to $1,500 for all visitors effective immediately. A new exclusive package for tourists who wish to book an entire family of gorillas was also introduced at $15,000, and will receive exclusive personalized tour guide services.

The price increase will not affect tourists who had already purchased their tickets at the time of this announcement.

Tourists who visit other Rwanda national parks (Nyungwe and Akagera) for a minimum of three days, in addition to gorilla trekking will receive a discount of 30%. Similarly, conference tourists, who stay pre or post conference dates to see gorillas will be eligible for a 15% discount.

In line with Rwanda’s high-end tourism strategy, the price increase aims to strengthen conservation efforts and contribute more to the development of communities living around the Volcanoes National Park.

Along with the new tariff, the tourism revenue sharing rate for communities adjacent to the park, will also increase from 5% to 10%, which will quadruple the absolute revenues received by communities. Over the last 12 years, more than 400 community projects have been completed including hospitals, schools, business development centers and water supply systems to facilitate access to clean water. These projects directly benefit the people living around the parks.

Ms. Clare Akamanzi, the Chief Executive Officer at Rwanda Development Board said:

“Gorilla trekking is a highly unique experience. We have raised the price of permits in order to ensure sustainability of conservation initiatives and enhance visitors’ experience. We also want to make sure that the communities living near the park area receive a bigger share of tourism revenues to fund development projects and empower them economically.”

New, high-end lodges are opening in Musanze and plans are underway to improve visitors’ experience at Kinigi, including renovation of the information center to equip it with modern offices and tourism services such as conservation education, children’s learning space as well as digital facilities. 

Mountain gorillas are an endangered species with only around 880 remaining in the world. Of those in in the Virunga Massif, Rwanda accounts for 62% of the gorilla population. Stringent conservation measures have significantly contributed to a rise in gorilla numbers. There are currently 20 families habituated for tourism and research in Rwanda, up from just 9 families in 2010.

“Ever since its inception, World Tourism Day is celebrated on 27 September to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value.

“As the official day set aside in the United Nations Calendar, the celebration seeks to highlight tourism’s potential to contribute to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), addressing some of the most pressing challenges society is faced with today,” a statement on UNWTO‘s website reads in part.

Uganda has been celebrating this day in style, for a whole week! On the 23rd, the Speaker of the Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, launched the Tulambule; Unlocking Uganda’s Tourism potential campaign, which will be spearheaded by the state minister for tourism, Hon Kiwanda Godfrey Ssubi, alongside the Uganda Tourism Board, Uganda Hotel Owners Association, Uganda Wildlife Authority and Uganda Wildlife Education Centre.

The campaign aims enhance domestic tourism in the country.

“It is up to us to market our country to other people because no one else will do it as well as we can and in order to do that, we have to understand what a treasure this country is,” said Hon Kiwanda whilst speaking to the entourage of Ugandans as they were received by the Member of Parliament for Mbarara Municipality, Hon Michael Tusiime.

The tourism day celebrations in Uganda took place in Mbarara on the September 27 with Prime Minister Rt Hon Ruhakana Rugunda representing President Yoweri Museveni as the guest of honour. The celebrations which started days prior, have had several organisations, tour operators, hotels as well as Jumia Travel, showcasing their wares and contributions to Uganda’s tourism sector at the Kakyeka Stadium in Mbarara town.

Being the headquarters of Ankole region, Mbarara gave the Tulambule group a chance to learn about the beauty of the history-rich region with a tour of the Igongo Cultural Centre Museum, whose exhibits include artifacts and crafts that take you back in time.

In honour of this day, Jumia Travel is unveiling new holiday packages starting with Kenya and Nigeria; with a plan to roll out the packages in all other African countries. The company that now boasts the largest inventory of hotels in Africa and plans to run the promotion on a yearly basis while regularly updating the packages on the respective Jumia Travel country websites.

“We have noticed that, especially within the Kenyan and Nigerian markets, people were looking for several travel packages whenever they booked their hotels. Most of the time, people who have been saving money are willing to go on leave/vacation with a package that suits their needs, inclusive of bus, hotel, lunch, tours and many more.

“This helps them foresee how much it will cost and assist them create a suitable budget. The demand is quite significant in Uganda, too and we are still working on the best packages to avail on our side soon,” said Jumia Travel Uganda country manager, Louis Badea.

The packages are tailor made to suit the country’s touristic needs and demands. This means that you can book your hotel and at the same time plan for all your other activities on the same site.