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KARONGI: Best Western Eco Hotel in the Heart of Karongi Town

Best Western Eco Hotel opened its doors two months ago. It is located in the middle of the town of former Kibuye now Karongi. Investors in Karongi prefer to locate their hotel business on the lakeshores of Kivu but Best Western Eco Hotel owner chose to make a difference and put it in the heart of Karongi town.

Apart from restaurants and food stores, Best Western Eco Hotel is the only hotel located in the central town.

The investor who the idea is Nahayo Vincent, the owner and Director General of Nyungwe Chimps Travel Agency (NCTA), also Legal Representative of Rwanda Environmental Awareness Project (REAP).

In an interview with All About Rwanda, Mister Nahayo explained why he prefers his hotel in the middle of the town: “Not all people are equal financially speaking, of course it’s good to sleep by the lakeside but I don’t think everyone needs it! I preferred to run my business in the central town to facilitate access to my customers. Before you start a business you need to first of all study your market. I’ll give you an example, you’ve just arrived from Kigali and you need a place where to rest without making extra travel. You know all hotels here are located by the lakeshores. Imagine you arrive in Karongi at night and you’ve not provided for extra transport fares. What will happen then? I guess you’ll definitely need to go to the nearest hotel. That is how the idea crossed my mind and I started my hotel business here in Kibuye town.”

Concerning the name of the hotel, the owner says he chose ‘Best Western Eco Hotel’ based on two main points: the word Western to indicate the location because his business is in Karongi district, which is part of the Western Province. The hotel is also part of a large business he runs in the Province including a campsite in western Rusizi district. The campsite is currently under development at a peninsula in Lake Kivu. Besides, Nahayo Vincent says he’s also finalizing the construction of another hotel in the same district. The businessman tells more about his campsite business:

“Most Rwandans slept in tents in exile as a result of the 1994 genocide and war, so they have a relatively harsh memory about tents, but let’s talk about those who didn’t have that experience. How many years have you slept indoors? In fact try a tent it once and you’ll see the result. We call them tents but those used for camping are actually designed for that particular purpose. They’re fully fledged with sleeping bags and ventilations to let you breathe fresh air from camping site.”

Best Western Eco Hotel in the town of Karongi (former Kibuye)

Nahayo’s campsite project will be extended to Karongi district, where he has already purchased a land at Mpembe. The second part of his Hotel name is Eco. He says this is in line with his passion to promote environment.

“You see, the hotel is in a busy town next to the bus station. You can imagine the smokes from the exhaustion pipes polluting the air. So I’ve envisaged to plant trees that will help provide fresh air around the hotel. Moreover, the rooms are painted with environmentally-friendly paints.”

The shape of the building follows Rwanda’s geographical situation and the location of its parks. Nahayo says this is an add-value component as he points out:

“The building comprises three parts. One facing the South, the second one facing the North and the third one looking East. We have Nyungwe Park in the south, the Volcanoes National Park in the north and the Akagera National Park in the East. Furthermore, the 10 hotel rooms in the southern part of the building bear 10 names of 10 species of primates found in Nyungwe Park.”

On top of Hotel and campsites businesses, Nahayo have plans to start package tour business:

“Package tour or package holiday is not common in Rwanda but people do it without knowing. It consists of transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided like a rental car, activities or outings during the holiday. Package holidays are organized by a tour operator and sold to a consumer by a travel agent. Some travel agents are employees of tour operators, others are independent.”

Nahayo has extended his business to further innovations where he employs local motorcyclists who attract customers to his hotel (Best Western Eco Hotel) in Karongi. Each motorcyclist who brings one customer earns a 500Rwf airtime, and if they bring up to 10 people per day they get a 5,000Rwf incentive. It’s a very effective way since there are no other means of public transport around the town but taxi motorcycles.

The tariffs at Best Western Eco Hotel are reasonable compared to services which include bedrooms with television and wireless internet for free.

Visiting gorillas in Rwanda is safe as tourism booms

The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has revealed that for the first semester of 2012, Tourism revenues have increased by 11% compared to the same period last year in 2011. The tourism sector is estimated to have generated US $128.3m compared to US$115.6m generated in the same period last year.

In addition, RDB wishes to inform and reassure tourists and the business community that it is safe to travel to the Volcanoes National Park in Northern Rwanda despite the on-going conflict in the neighbouring country of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rica Rwigamba, Head of Tourism and Conservation at RDB said that Rwanda’s tourism progress is attributed to peace and security: “Visitor safety is guaranteed as usual. We would like to reassure visitors to Rwanda that it is business as usual here and that it is extremely safe and secure to travel to and within the country. In addition to the all-in-one experience in Rwanda from diverse wildlife in the national parks, to the magnificent scenery, amazing climate and the rare mountain gorillas; peace and security continues to be a magnetic pool for visitors in Rwanda.”

Rwanda also hosted an estimate of 493,744 visitors in the first semester 2012 corresponding to an increase of 22% compared to 2011 in the same period and recorded a remarkable 16% increase in leisure visitors as well as an 8% increase in business visitors.

In terms of investment promotion, in the first semester only (January to June), the Tourism sector has so far registered projects worth US$ 184.1m. These projects are expected to create 1,328 jobs.

Rica Rwigamba, Head of Tourism and Conservation at RDB said that “There was a noticeable increase in revenues, visits and value of registered tourism investments as well as projected jobs created in the first semester. We believe that if we continue to achieve as reflected by the results in the first semester, we will indeed surpass our targets and more importantly, this will drive growth and generate wealth for Rwandans.”

Rwanda’s tourism and conservation efforts are also reflected in the commitment to the contribution towards the communities’ welfare under the revenue sharing framework, RDB recently increased the price of gorilla permits to 750$ which will consequently also increase the contribution to the communities as well as the activities in conservation. Indeed, Rwanda places conservation and community development at the core of the sustainable tourism agenda.

In addition to the current room capacity of more than 6500 today, the government is encouraging more investment in accommodation facilities, hotels and restaurants in order to match the ever increasing visitors’ number.

Tourism is the largest foreign exchange earner with $251 million earned in 2011.

RDB Plans to Turn Buhanga Sacred Hill into an eco-park

Buhanga is a sacred hill located in the Northern Muhanga District also home to Rwanda’s rare mountain gorillas. For some particular reasons local residents call it Igihondohondo(which means yellow), probably due the colors of its vegetations. The hill played a important role in ancient Rwanda during the coronation of Kings. The lake, in which the king had to bathe in before his coronation, called ‘Iriba rya Gihanga’ can still be found in the forest of the sacred hill. Despite its small size (around 13 hectares) the forest is a site of tremendous ecological importance and astonishing beauty.

It takes on a different dimension depending on the time of day, season of year and weather conditions. Visitors walk beneath the cover of tall majestic trees and are rewarded by the sights of many different birds and beautiful butterflies. Due to its natural beauty and the cultural significance of the area, Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has revealed that it has plans to upgrade the site and turn it into an Eco Park.

According to locals, every Rwandan king, from the first King (Gihanga) to the last one (Kigeli Ndahindurwa), has bathed in the waters of the lake. For hundreds of years, local residents refused to either cultivate crops or to cut timber in the area. For bird-watching lovers, the best time to visit the forest is in the early morning or late afternoon when the birds are at their most active and their songs fills the air.

Tourism and Conservation Performance in 2008

Tourism has had another successful year, with a significant impact on Rwanda’s economy, contributing to job creation, local community development and a variety of local and international investments. It is the leading export sector in the country and is growing continuously.

Visitor numbers have increased from 826,374 visitors in 2007 to an estimated 1 million visitors in 2008, 30% increase. Projections for 2009 see numbers growing to 1.14 million.
Revenues are estimated to increase by 54% compared to 2007, rising from USD $138 million in 2007 to an estimated USD $214 million in 2008. Revenues in 2009 are projected at USD $224 million, demonstrating the industry’s growing potential. Leisure visitors have so far doubled in 2008 compared to 2007.

The tourism industry contributes significantly to benefiting the lives of Rwandans generating 343,000 jobs in 2008—an increase of 26% from 2007. Local communities benefit from tourism through ORTPN’s Revenue Sharing Scheme which grants 5% of its revenues towards supporting community projects so as to improve their welfare. Total support given in 2008 (including the Revenue Sharing Scheme) totaled Rwf 460, 522, 154 and contributed to the following projects:

Support for 11 schools comprised of 2600 students;
Health centers at Banda, Ngange and Gasumo, benefiting approximately 30,000 community members surrounding Nyungwe National Park;
Water tanks and taps were built for communities surrounding Nyungwe National Park and Volcanoes National Parks, benefiting nearly 5,800 families;
From revenues generated by Kwita Izina, Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge was launched and is fully owned by communities and contributes greatly to poverty alleviation; revenues generated from the Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge were used to construct 26 houses for vulnerable families living around the Volcanoes National Park.

As an institution, ORTPN and her partners have set up a Genocide memorial fund which in 2008 assisted child headed genocide survivors in Nyamata and the Ntarama Genocide Memorial. More so, ORTPN through her social responsibility initiatives assisted earthquake victims in the western province and survivors of Kirehe floods morally and financially.

Investments in tourism can be seen through an increase in the number of hotels around the country from 148 hotels with 2,391 rooms in 2007 to 163 hotels with 3,552 in 2008. Tour operators and travel agancies have increased from 34 in 2007 to 48 in 2008.

Other investments see accommodation improvements in Kigali, Kinigi, Akagera and Nyungwe; tourism products and experiences being developed at Nyungwe National Park and Lake Kivu; and investments in service development and capacity building in conservation through the Kitabi College for Conservation and Environment Management (KCCEM).

Maintenance of the integrity and biodiversity of the national parks is a priority for ORTPN. The Transboundary Executive Secretariat of the Greater Virunga Massif Ecosystem was set up to protect the mountain gorillas of Rwanda, Uganda and DRC was inaugurated and headquartered in Kigali and chaired by Rwanda. An MOU between ORTPN (Rwanda) and INECN (Burundi) for Transboundary collaboration for the protection of Nyungwe–Kibira Ecosystem was signed. A business plan for Akagera National Park was developed and agreed upon by ORTPN and Dubai World in the framework of investment through public and private partnership. All these endeavors are being undertaken to ensure good conservation practices between Rwanda and her neighboring countries.

The following efforts have contributed greatly to the positive image Rwanda is developing as a popular tourism destination: Rwanda won best African Best Exhibitor for the second year running at ITB Berlin, the world’s biggest tourism trade fair. A recent achievement saw Rwanda being voted among the “Top 10 Countries to Visit in 2009” by Lonely Planet, one of the world’s leading travel guides. Rwanda’s main tourism event, Kwita Izina, which attracts tourists and conservationists alike to the base of the Virunga mountain chain, has been instrumental in communicating the success of Rwanda tourism and conservation.

Rwanda’s up-and-coming ideal destination that will be featured in 2009 is Nyungwe National Park. Investments in the park include a state of the art eco-lodge and a mid-range lodge; a unique, interactive interpretation center; a canopy walk allowing visitors to experience the park from a new vantage point; and a new boat on Lake Kivu to facilitate the primate product that links Volcanoes National Park with Nyungwe National Park. Nyungwe boasts 13 primate species, 275 bird species (of which 25 are endemic to the mountainous Central African region), 250 tree species, and 148 varieties of orchids. Nyungwe is one of the region’s most distinctive natural attractions and is a great asset to Rwanda’s tourism portfolio.