Perceived barriers to tourism development in Rwanda as a tourist destination

Abstract

Tourism is regarded as the fastest growing industry in the world. Africa was identified at the World Investment Conference in Geneva (WAIPA, 2005) as one of the continents with a significant potential for developing tourism. Located in sub-Saharan Africa, Rwanda is a low income, landlocked and densely populated country in Africa. Tourism provides the best alternative for economic development to Rwanda which does not have mineral resources unlike most African countries. The development of tourism can contribute a lot to this country through reduction of the level of poverty, creation of job opportunities as well as contributing to the national income. However, the tourism industry in Rwanda is still in its early stages due to the 1994 war. Most of the parks re-opened in 1998/1999, and still concentrate on low volume of tourists. Until now Rwanda is not recognised among the known tourist destinations in Africa; it is believed to be a less developed place for tourists. This study presents barriers to tourism development in Rwanda as perceived by domestic and international tourists as well as workers in the tourism sector of Rwanda. The study was conducted in the four provinces of Rwanda and the capital city, Kigali. A quantitative design using two cross-sectional questionnaires was utilised to establish the opinions of the participants. A sample of 426 participants, including 68 international tourists, 182 domestic tourists as well as 176 workers in the tourism sector was selected to participate in the study.