From  October 9^th to 11^th 2021 Rwanda Development Board along with 10 Tour Operators from the Rwanda Chamber of Tourism participated in the first East African Regional Tourism (EARTE) Expo which took place at the TGT Grounds in Arusha, Tanzania, under the theme “Promotion of Resilient Tourism for Inclusive Socio-economic Development.”

The three-day Expo was hosted by the United Republic of Tanzania in conjunction with the EAC Secretariat and was followed by a familiarization trip for hosted international buyers and media to some of the iconic tourist sites in Northern Tanzania region from 12th to 16th October, 2021.

The overarching objective of the EXPO was to promote EAC as a single tourism destination, provide a platform for tourism service providers’ business to business (B2B) engagements, create awareness on tourism investment.

During his opening remarks, the EAC Secretary General, Hon. (Dr). Peter Mathuki said that the EAC region lost close to 70% of international tourist arrivals in 2020 coupled with massive losses in tourism earnings and tourism related jobs, and that, wildlife conservation in the region suffered a major blow from the pandemic through loss of conservation revenue most of which is generated through tourists visiting the protected areas and wildlife conservancies across the region.

In his key note address, the President and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council of Zanzibar, H.E. Dr. Hussein Mwinyi, called upon EAC Partner States to develop a coordinated approach that will be instrumental in overcoming the challenges facing the tourism sector occasioned by the outbreak of COVID-19. Adding that Partner States should continuously refine national policies and devise new programmes to deliver responsible, inclusive and sustainable tourism products that will attract more visitors from all over the world.

The EXPO comprised exhibitions by the different tourism service providers, speed networking, meetings and seminars on tourism and wildlife sub-themes. In respect to the tourism sector, these sub-themes revolved around aspects such as tourism resilience and crisis management, digital tourism marketing, development of multi-destination tourism packages and tourism investment opportunities and incentives.