THE JOURNEY OF GORILLA TOURISM IN RWANDA

Gorilla tourism in Rwanda, Uganda and Congo evolved around the Virunga ranges of Muhavura, Mgahinga and Sabinyo. Around these mountain lies the Parc National des Volcans one of Africa’s oldest park, the park was made famous by Dian Fossey and her efforts to protect its endangered mountain gorillas, founded in 1925 when the countries of Rwanda and Congo were under Belgian rule and named Parc National Albert after the Belgian monarch, however since the independence of the two countries in 1962 the park was separated into the existing two that is Parc des Volcans in Rwanda and des Virunga in Congo.

The foundation of the Parc national Albert was instigated by Carl Ethan Akeley, a renowned American museum collector who visited the Virungas in 1921 and was alarmed at the extent of gorilla hunting. The next notable gorilla conservationist, Walter Baumgartel who also established the Kisoro Traveler's rest hotel as a base for tourist and researchers, that a one George Schaller conducted the pioneering 1960 study which did so much to dispel the prevailing perception of gorillas as mindlessly aggressive and violent creatures.

That the gorillas, despite their fearsome appearance are among the most peaceable of primates was confirmed by a more comprehensive behavioral study initiated by Dian Fossey in 1963, mentored by the paleontologist   Dr Louis Leakey who believed that the study of these Apes would cast light on the relationship between the great apes and early hominid ancestors.

During one of his lectures while on tour in United States of America Dr Leakey was approached by Dian who volunteered to participate in the project and so Fossey set out to habituating the gorillas in the Parc des Volcans, enabling her to monitor their behaviors at close range. The active and arguably vindictive role she played in apprehending and punishing gorilla poachers almost certainly lay behind her brutal and unsolved murder in the park in 1985. She was laid to rest on Karisoke Mountain research center among some of her beloved gorillas and as from 2002 tourist can hike to her tomb; her legacy is still carried on through the Dian Fossey Gorilla fund and her book Gorillas in the mist.

In 1979, Amy Vedder and Bill Webber initiated a pioneering project in which controlled tourist visits to the habituated gorillas of the Parc des Volcans were used to fund local environmental education and anti poaching patrols. Initially controversial, gorilla tourism proved to be an unqualified success and by mid 1980 it was entrenched as Rwanda third highest earner of foreign revenue. The income generated by gorilla tourism revolutionized official and local perceptions of the great apes, leading to sharp decrease in poaching as highlighted by the 1989 census which indicated a 30% increase since 1979.

Tourist activities within the Parc des Volcans were suspended during the civil war in 1991, researchers and rangers were forced to evacuate the park putting the future of the gorillas in jeopardy, surprisingly after the war when the researchers returned only four gorillas could not be accounted for, however it is believed that these could have succumbed to natural death since they had advanced in age. The Parc des Volcans resumed operations in 1999 and ever since there has been no back tracking, the most famous groups being Susa and Sabinyo.

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Kenya tourism in turmoil amid terror warnings

Associated Press - British tourists queue with their luggage to leave by charter flight from the international airport in Mombasa, Kenya Friday, May 16, 2014. Britain’s government warned its citizens this week to avoid the coastal city of Mombasa and beach towns nearby, prompting a travel company to cut short the vacations of hundreds of British citizens and fly them home, while Kenya’s National Disaster Operation Centre says that two explosions in Nairobi have killed at least four people Friday with one blast targeting a mini-van that Kenyans use for public transportation and a second blast went off in a market. 

By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, May 20, 7:18 AM

KAMPALA, Uganda — Mombasa and its sandy white coastline beckon vacationers, but on a recent day Harold Kampala watched helplessly as more than 100 guests checked out of his hotel, heeding a British government warning that the coastal region should be avoided because of fears that a terrorist attack might be imminent.

The alert from Britain and similar warnings from the U.S., France and Australia are impacting Kenya’s tourism industry, with the possibility of layoffs looming. Tourism creates about 10 percent of the country’s jobs, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.

More than 900 tourists have cut short their vacations since the warning was issued on May 14 by Britain, according to the Kenya Association of Hotel keepers and Caterers. TUI Travel, a major British leisure travel group, even took the step of cancelling all its flights to Mombasa until October.

ATA advance party arrives in Uganda

AN advance team of the, a leading global tAfrica Travel Association rade association promoting travel and tourism to Africa is in Uganda to finalize preparations for its 39th Congress.

It is slated to be hosted from the 11th-16th November by its Ugandan Chapter with the First Lady Janet Museveni as its patron.

President Museveni and First Lady Janet Museveni meet the team at State House in Rwakitura

Photo by Solomon Oleny

Led by its Executive Director Edward Bergman, the team are touring a couple of tourism attractions and tourism related facilities such as hotels with the intent of mapping them for an international media team of 22 journalists especially the travel press who will be arriving weeks ahead of the event.

Emma Nahayo the Public Relations Officer of Ministry of Tourism explains that upon arrival, the press team will pursue familiarization trips around Uganda’s top tourism attractions with the intent of popularizing them as prime tourism destinations to the world, especially it’s over 5 million online followers.

“That way, this will directly drive tourist traffic into the country. In the event that 500,000 of these one million followers come to Uganda, Uganda will be $650 M richer for every day they will spend in the country because an average tourist in Uganda spends $1300 a day on expenses like accommodation, transport, food among others.”

According to Bergman, beyond marketing Uganda through the International press, ATA will fly in a team of over 400 tourism business associates and expatriates for its conference slated to be hosted in Munyonyo. 

This will provide its vast Ugandan members inclusive of travel agents, hoteliers and safari companies a grand opportunity to build networks and expand their business affiliations beyond limits.

“In turn, this will help them in making breakthroughs, something which has not been possible in the past as many of them could not afford to travel for international tourism exhibitions and trade fairs as it’s expensive”  Bergman explained.

Uganda breaks record: Over a million airline passengers at Entebbe International

By Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Theme, eTN Africa Correspondent | May 19, 2014

Information received while in Kenya this week shows a further rise in passenger numbers for Entebbe International Airport during 2013, with figures for the first time rising above the one million mark with 1,025,391 compared to 964,274 the previous year. Domestic passenger numbers nearly doubled, the first time in over a decade that figures have risen again after a constant decline in local passengers. Here, the 2013 figure reached 21,448, up from just 13,464.

The figures were presented to the 9th Joint Transport Sector Review earlier in the week in Kampala by Dr. Rama Makuza, CEO of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority.

Also up were aircraft movements overall from 22,370 to 23,091 indicating that the number of flights has risen besides airlines switching to larger aircraft to cater to growing passenger numbers.

The capital Kampala, besides access to the international airport in Entebbe – a new four-lane highway is being constructed to cut down on traffic delays – can also use the Mission Aviation Fellowship owned Kajjasi airfield, located just 15 kilometers outside the city, which is also the home base of the Kampala Aero Club and Ndege Juu. It is from there that the Aero Club operates its domestic charter and scheduled coach services, while Aerolink, a sister company to Air Kenya, operates their domestic flights and charters from the main airport in Entebbe