Rwanda named most distinctive tourist destination at Chinese travel fair

Rwanda has won the most distinctive tourist award at Guangzhou International Travel Fair, one of the most popular travel events in China. Founded in 1993, the annual fair brings together domestic and foreign exhibitors to introduce and promote their products. It is organised by Guangzhou Municipal Culture Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau. This year’s edition ran from February 21-23, 2019, and the Rwanda Embassy in China participated with support of Rwanda Development Board. The exhibition attracted more than 100 companies from 55 countries. At the exhibition, the Rwandan embassy in China promoted tourism products, Made-in-Rwanda products and RwandAir, which will soon start flights to Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong Province, Southern China. According to the Rwandan embassy in China, Rwandan products were also promoted during the exhibition through live streaming on Chinese social media platforms and this attracted millions of viewers. During this expo, Rwanda was recognised as the ‘Most Distinctive Tourist Destination,’ due the tourist packages it exhibited which, among others, included cultural dances. Charles Kayonga, the Ambassador of Rwanda to China, told the media that it has become more convenient for Chinese tourists to travel to Rwanda as they can now book Rwandan tourism products online through the VisitRwanda flagship store on ‘Fliggy,’ a tourist app for Alibaba, China’s largest e-Commerce platform. He added that RwandAir’s planned commercial flights to Guangzhou, will facilitate trade between the two nations, boost tourism and investments as well as China - Africa trade in general. Last year, more than 8000 Chinese tourists visited Rwanda. The figure is projected to surge in 2019, according to official forecasts. “I wish to visit Rwanda again very soon, your country is very beautiful and you have an amazing culture,” Li Chenggang, the Chief of Tuanjie Village in Southern China, said after watching the Rwandan traditional dance performance at the exhibition. Li last visited Rwanda in 2017. Li said that there are a host of companies dealing in agriculture that are keen to invest in Rwanda. Meanwhile, Rwanda is preparing to participate in the 2019 International Horticultural Exhibition, which will be held in Beijing and the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in Changsha, the Capital City of Hunan Province in South Central China. editorial@newtimesrwanda.com

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Rwanda named most distinctive tourist destination at Chinese travel fair