Rwanda is expanding its community-based tourism offering as part of its efforts to diversify visitor experiences and increase the benefits of tourism for communities around its key destinations.
Alongside established experiences such as gorilla trekking, community-based experiences include cooking, farming, basket weaving, pottery, honey harvesting and village walks.
“Gorilla trekking will remain one of Rwanda’s strongest tourism drawcards,” says Ally Hendricks, Head of Safari Amarembo by Touch Down. “But I believe community tourism has the potential to become an important reason for travellers to stay longer, explore more deeply and understand Rwanda beyond its wildlife.”
Community benefits
Rwanda has operated its Tourism Revenue Sharing Programme since 2005, which reinvests 10% of national park tourism revenues in communities surrounding protected areas.
According to the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), more than Rwf23 billion (US$15.6 million) has been reinvested through the programme over the past two decades, supporting nearly 1 300 projects in education, healthcare, water infrastructure and livelihoods.
In August, Rwanda broke ground on the US$49 million Smart Green Village in Rurembo, Kinigi Sector, which is expected to support 547 households with housing, services and livelihood opportunities. The development is part of a wider programme linked to the planned expansion of Volcanoes National Park.
Developing viable products
Gregory Bakunzi, Founder of Red Rocks Initiatives for Sustainable Development, said community participation should extend beyond receiving tourism revenues to involvement in tourism enterprises.
“At Red Rocks, our approach has been to work with community groups, cooperatives, artists, farmers, women and youth to identify what they already have – skills, stories, food, land, traditions, crafts, knowledge and landscapes – and then turn those assets into responsible visitor experiences.”
RDB has developed National Guidelines for Community-Based Tourism Enterprises, covering product development, operations and marketing.
Hendricks said community experiences also need to be packaged, priced and made accessible to international tour operators.
“A community can have an incredible story, tradition or experience but having a great experience is not enough,” she said.
Bakunzi identified financing and market visibility as further constraints. Red Rocks is developing a countrywide community-based tourism network aimed at bringing community cooperatives onto a shared platform and expanding the market for cultural tourism.
Both operators also highlighted the importance of community involvement in deciding how local traditions and stories are presented to visitors.
Hendricks said community tourism could complement rather than compete with Rwanda’s established wildlife offering.
“The gorilla experience is unique globally and has created a very strong international identity for Rwanda. Community tourism does not need to compete with that.”
