Rwanda has been ranked as the top Africa destination to travel to in 2020 and among the top 30 globally by a ranking, Travel Lemming which recognizes trending destinations.
The annual awards were published this week on the site TravelLemming.com which promotes emerging destinations around the world as a solution to over tourism.
Winners were selected after voting by 30 of the most popular travel bloggers in the industry, who collectively sport more than 12 million followers on social media.
Among the attributes that were listed by voters on why Rwanda was an ideal destination is the growing connectivity via the national carrier RwandAir, safety and conservation efforts.
"With the World Economic Forum recently naming it the safest country in Africa and RwandAir slated to open direct flights from JFK (New York) to Kigali, 2020 is the best year yet to travel to Rwanda. This East African pearl is changing the African travel narrative in so many ways.
"It will be exciting to visit Kigali to see its amazing transformation and to see the conservation efforts at its national parks," said Amarachi Ekekwe, one of the judges and the travel blogger behind Travel with a Pen.
"Rwanda is at the top of my list to visit in Africa to experience its cultural mix and beautiful natural surrounds. While most people go to see the gorillas there are lots of other cultural heritage sites and experiences to be had," added Amanda Mouttaki, another judge and the travel blogger behind Maroc Mama.
Chief Tourism Officer of the Rwanda Development Board Belise Kariza recognized efforts of sector stakeholders in continuously improving Rwanda as a tourism destination.
"Visit Rwanda shares this award with the community members, conservationists, tourism operators and hoteliers who contribute every day to making Rwanda a special place to visit,” she said.
Travel Lemming is a travel blog founded by Nate Hake, an American who has been traveling the world full-time since 2016. The site's mission is to help highlight emerging and underappreciated destinations as a way to fight over tourism.
In October, Rwanda featured on Forbes’ list of the 20 best places to visit in 2020.
The exclusive list, drawn up based on sales and client aspirations, was made by travel agents of the Ovation Travel Group, a 35-year-old $1.4 billion travel company.
A month ago, Rwanda’s tourism brand, ‘Visit Rwanda’ won a top award for destination excellence in luxury and experiential travel at the 2019 Luxperience Awards in Sydney, Australia.
The Luxperience Travel Trade Exhibition is a luxury Business event that connects the most innovative experiential tourism and premium events specialists in the travel market.