Rwanda Clarifies Gorilla Permit Pricing
A lot has been said regarding Rwanda’s gorilla permit pricing since May 2017. Rwanda Development Board with immediate effect doubled the price of gorilla permits in volcanoes national park from $750 to $1500 to be paid by all travelers including Rwanda nationals. In addition Rwanda introduced a 30% discount for people who would in addition to gorilla trekking spend extra three nights in either Akagera or Nyungwe forest national park. Also, a special package (15%) for conference tourists who would spend more days in Rwanda after and before their conferences/meetings was introduced for conference travelers.
With no doubt, the abrupt changes in Rwanda left many people confused, wondering what is what and what applies where. In other words, the information was not clear to the affected people especially traveling agents who would need to give such information to the potential travelers. Undeniably, Rwanda tourism industry has been shaken by these changes. It’s so clear that a high number of the would have been Rwanda travelers have ended up in Uganda. This is evidenced by an increase in Rwanda Uganda gorilla safaris where travelers land at Kigali international airport and immediately cross over to Uganda where gorilla trekking is cheap. Rwanda lost a lot of gorilla tours to Uganda, which almost forced many people in business. On most occasions, most people have tried to understand who is eligible to enjoy this 30% discount but have failed. Some people claimed that Rwanda put 30% discount as an indirect way to recover from the tourism loss it has suffered since the increase of gorilla permit costs. Sincerely, it has not been clear what is what regarding gorilla tour pricing in Rwanda which has raised a lot of questions among travel operators and travelers themselves.
Finally, Rwanda Development Board has come out to give people a clear state of tourism in Rwanda and reason for the 30% discount. Rwanda’s defense is against a wrong report by the Associated Press (AS), which pointed out that 30% in Rwanda during the low season aimed at attracting back tourists, which Rwanda has lost to Uganda. Also, the Associated Press wrongfully reported that RDB put discounted permits in trying to recover the loss following the drop in tourist numbers.
RDB strongly defends that Rwanda has never lost clients even after doubling the increase of gorilla permit prices. According to Rwanda Development Board, the change in the cost of gorilla permits in Volcanoes National park intend to attract more visitors to Rwanda’s other parks of Nyungwe forest and Akagera national parks and encourage them to stay for three days in the low season. Between the months of November to May. Travelers who visit any of Nyungwe or Akagera are entitled to 30% discount while conference travelers who also trek mountains are entitled to 15% discount. Therefore, Rwanda development board clarifies that the introduction of discounted gorilla permits is one of the strategy to promote tourism in Rwanda’s other national parks besides Volcanoes National Park and not a reaction to the reduced numbers in gorilla tours.
Reaction to the loss of business report
In reaction to the Associated press’s report of how Rwanda has lost all the business o Uganda which has left most guides and travel operators in Rwanda without income, RDB clarifies that the country has NEVER lost any business to any country. “Tourism in Rwanda has steadily increased from time to time irrespective of change in prices and we hope it all increase even much more in future” Says RDB executive. Furthermore, Rwanda Development Board explains that since the increase of gorilla permit prices, the country has seen an increase in demand for gorilla tours compared to the past. Rwanda tourism statistics indicate that Rwanda has earned $983,333 revenue between the months of May-August 2018, which is roughly 4% increase in government revenue. However, just like in other gorilla destinations, Rwanda faced a drop in tourist numbers during the low season, which it recovered in the high season. The steady increase in gorilla tourism demand give Rwanda confidence that the trend will continue to shoot high in future.
Sustainable conservation initiatives
The other major reason behind Rwanda’s high gorilla permit prices is to support sustainable conservation initiatives in Volcanoes National park. In other words, the initiative is to enhance visitors experience while at the same time improving the livelihood of locale people living adjacent to the national park. Local people are assured of ready market for their local products especially crafts and agricultural products at good prices. Also, revenue sharing is one of the initiatives, which allocate 15% of the total money revenue from the sale of gorilla permits to local communities adjacent to the national park. Through this initiative, local people have gained a lot of benefits, which include clean drinking water, health centers, schools, houses and water tanks that have all improved their standards of living.
In general, gorilla trekking is the best experience to include on your African bucket list. Book a luxury Rwanda gorilla tour to Volcanoes national park, enjoy other discounted Rwanda safaris to Nyungwe forest and Akagera national park all rewarding you with a complete experience in this land of a thousand hills.