As Rwanda begins to reshape its image on an international scale, some world airlines are beginning to travel more to the capital, Kigali.
Rwanda is still, understandably, suffering from a horrific reputation due to the events of 1994. The horrors of the genocide need time for recovery yet Rwanda is showing signs of moving in the right direction.
A 32% rise in revenue, coupled with a 28% rise in the amount of tourists in Rwanda has led to more and more airlines arranging flights to Kigali.
To put it precisely, 593 000 tourists visited Rwanda in August this year, which represents a significant increase on 2010. In fairness, the landlocked coffee producer has not done too much in the way of advertising in recent years, yet has just enjoyed success thanks to its misty valleys and mountain gorillas causing excitement amongst adventurous tourists.
This is why Turkish Airlines and South African Airlines now offer routes to Kigali and clearly intend to continue to fly there.
A huge marketing campaign is planned for 2012 to increase numbers of tourists in Rwanda, revenue from tourism and air traffic to and from the capital. Tourism, if it continues to grow at current rates, could provide a massive boost to Rwanda and stop it being so reliant upon coffee and tea for a living.
