Rwanda Development Board showcased the country’s travel and tourism attractions at this year’s China’s Outbound Travel and Tourism Market which closed yesterday. China Outbound Travel and Tourism Market is a leading travel trade show in the Asian nation. The tourism fair attracts over 4,300 people. The event provides a platform for countries to exhibit their innovative services in tourism. Rwanda Development Board, Rwanda Embassy in China, Rwandan tour operators, Rwanda Mountain Tea and RwandAir are some of the local entities that showcased at the fair. According to Rwanda’s ambassador to China, Charles Kayonga, the fair is an opportunity for Rwanda to showcase its attractions. “It’s a great opportunity for Rwanda to participate in China’s leading travel show. It presents a good opportunity to tap into a fast-growing market of tourists. Chinese tourists are also the world’s biggest spenders having overtaken Germans and Americans in 2012,” he said. The envoy noted that Chinese tourism has been growing every year since 2006, by an average of 13 per cent, according to statistics from the Chinese tourism academy. There were more than 122 million Chinese outbound trips in 2016, an increase of 4.3 per cent compared to the previous year. Mara Zhou, the co-founder of BoBu Africa, expressed optimism that they are looking forward to working with RDB to promote Rwanda’s tourism attractions. BoBu Africa is a popular network that gives insights on Africa by offering engaging journeys and selling unique products that attract Chinese tourists. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
