Five hundred and twenty one (521) international tourists have so far been screened against the coronavirus since March 11 at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) offices in Kinigi, Musanze District. The tourists are screened before and after trekking gorillas and so far all of them have tested negative. Screening tourists is part of several measures that were put in place by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus. So far 5 people have tested positive according to the Ministry of Health. “We have a team of eight medics who do clinical screening to assess whether a person does not have signs and symptoms of coronavirus and at the moment we are yet to identify a tourist who is positive,” noted Dr Philbert Muhire, the Director General of Ruhengeri Referral Hospital Prosper Uwingeri, the National Volcano Park chief warden said that screening tourists for corona virus is in line with measures meant to protect the country’s tourism image. He noted that screening activities for tourists who visit the park will go on till further notice. The country’s national parks continue to generate significant revenues with statistics showing that $20 million was generated from the three parks last year. The previous year, $18 million was collected. According to RDB, US visitors spend an average of $12,000, making them the most lucrative market. Chinese nationals spend an average of $1,084, ranking tenth. Nigerians are the top African spenders, spending an average of $1,498 per stay, ranking higher than Australians and only slightly below the French.
