Up-Grading and Enhancing Sustainable Linkages of Rwanda’s Tourism Value Chains: Opportunities and Bottlenecks

Abstract

The Rwandan government’s Economic Development and Poverty Reduction S4trategy II (EDPRS 2, 2013-2018) highlights enhancement of connectivity and linkages within the country’s economy as one of the priority areas for economic transformation. In the highlights, emphasis is put on the need for deepening the integration of key value chains of the economy. After a comprehensive analysis of Rwanda’s global competitiveness, tourism was identified as one of the key sectors that would spur economic development in the country. Important as it is, however, the linkage of this sector to the rest of the economy was found to be weak and hence compromises on its ability to deliver on certain targets as expected. This paper thus identifies opportunities as well as the bottlenecks within tourism value chains in Rwanda and recommends possible solutions. A questionnaire survey was used to obtain data related to visitor expenditure, targeting visitors at land border points and Kigali International airport. Focus group discussions were also conducted in gathering data on value chains analysis and identification of intervention programs that would remove any bottlenecks in the system.