Rwanda Chamber of Tourism has pledged to help small businesses in the tourism sector access the Economic Recovery Fund (ERF), in order to support them in recovering from effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Aimable Rutagarama, Chairperson of Rwanda Tourism Chamber said that the second phase of the fund will focus on micro and small tourism businesses, adding that they are in discussions with the government and other partners in order to access the fund as soon as possible. The Economic Recovery Fund (ERF) was established by the Government of Rwanda to support the recovery of businesses hardest hit by Covid-19 so that they can survive, resume operations and safeguard employment, among others. “The first tranche of recovery funds we received mostly focused on hotels and the small businesses were kind of left behind. However, this time we will focus on these small businesses because they were also hit by the pandemic, and we cannot help some while leaving others behind yet the sector survives through cooperation,” Rutagarama said. Rutagarama added that they will also work towards loosening the tight conditions to which these small businesses were subjected to in order to access the fund. Tim Osundi, Manager of Alast Tours and Travels, welcomed the initiative saying that the recovery fund will help them retain more staff and intensify marketing of their products. He added that his company applied for the recovery fund and they are waiting, hoping it will come sooner. According to a recent report by the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) tourism-related services have continued to suffer from the lasting impact of Covid-19, despite the economy progressively reopening. They include transport whose growth declined by -11.6 percent from -2.8 per cent in the previous fiscal year, hotels and restaurants (-36.4 percent from -9.3 percent), as well as travel agents and tour operators (-37.6 per cent from -2.0 per cent). Strategies in place As a strategy to deal with the numerous losses encountered in the tourism sector, the Rwanda Chamber of Tourism in partnership with other tourism businesses launched the inaugural Rwanda Tourism week. Rwanda tourism week, is scheduled to take place on November 24 to 28, at Kigali Serena Hotel under the theme “Rebuilding Tourism for Sustainable Growth” and will aim at boosting the confidence and morale in the tourism sector. Frank Gisha Mugisha, Director General of Rwanda Chamber of Tourism said that the week will have more than 100 exhibitors of arts and crafts, photography competitions, and bring together clients of the tourism sector like hotels, beverage companies, aviation and telecommunication companies among other activities. “This is one of the strategies that will help us recover from the pandemic, where we will build partnerships and network as we move to a stronger position of resilience in the tourism sector, and also showcase Rwanda a country that offers different tourism destination to international and regional tourists and locals as well,” he said. The Rwanda Tourism Week will be held alongside the 4th edition of Africa Tourism Leadership Forum (ATLF). The ATLF will bring together key stakeholders of Africa’s travel, tourism, hospitality and aviation sectors to share insights and devise strategies for tourism growth across the continent.
