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Kwita Izina Festival moved from June to September
KIGALI, Rwanda – Rwanda’s annually celebrated Gorilla naming event (Kwita Izina), will go regional starting this year as a way of promoting tourism, not only in Rwanda, but in East Africa as a whole.
As part of joint tourism promotion, countries within the Northern Corridor Initiative had decided to give each member country a period to specially focus on a flagship tourism event. Kwita Izina happens to be Rwanda’s flagship tourism event and this is what Rwanda will mainly focus on.
Kwita Izina literally means ‘to give a name’. “Beyond Kwita Izina, what we want to look at, is to really take advantage of the integration process,” Amb. Yamina Karitanyi, the Chief Tourism Officer at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) said last week.
She was speaking at a media briefing held in Kigali to announce 2015 Kwita Izina which will be held on September 5th under the theme ‘Conserving now and for the future’.
Amb. Karitanyi said, “The Northern Corridor Initiative, which started about one and a half years ago, is yielding results and enhancing business beyond our borders.
“Therefore we hope that as we celebrate Kwita Izina which has now moved from being an event belonging to Rwanda to an event belonging to the region, we are likely to see greater yields from the tour operators in the region and the populations both locals and expatriates who are in neighboring countries will give us good business,” Karitanyi said.
Rwanda’s flagship event Kwita Izina ceremony was moved to September bringing in other initiatives to promote tourism jointly with the private sector.
These include the current domestic and regional tourism campaign events and the joint marketing activities under the Northern Corridor Initiative.
“This year we will be naming 24 baby gorillas that have been born since the last Kwita Izina. This shows an increase in the population of gorillas which is quiet exciting since last year we named about 18 baby gorillas and its shows a solid confirmation that conservation efforts in Rwanda are paying off,” Karitanyi said.
She said, beyond Kwita Izina the date itself, different activities will be carried out that will lead to the actual event.
Meanwhile, Dennis Karera, the East African Business Council Chairman said, “The government of Rwanda has created a secure and enabling environment for businesses to thrive.
“With the East African Single Tourist Visa, there is easy movement of tourists and so it is up to them as the private sector to take advantage of all these opportunities,” he said.
During this year’s Kwita Izina a new activity to exhibit Rwanda’s culture will also be introduced. The cultural ceremony, known as Inka Z’URwanda, will focus on the importance of cows in the Rwandan tradition. It will show the impact cows have on the social well-being of the people living in different areas of the country.
Joseph Birori, the Chairman Rwanda Tours and Travel Association said, “Kwita Izina is a great opportunity for industry players to interact with the regional and international operators through Business- to- Business meetings. It is also an add-on activity which we include in the packages we make for tourists.”
He said this year they have ample time to plan and get involved in the naming ceremony.Last year’s Kwita Izina event brought together over 20,000 people. This year therefore a much bigger number is expected.
According to Faustin Karasira, Head of the Tourism Department at RDB, tourism has been Rwanda’s main foreign exchange earner since 2007.
“The sector contributes over 8.1% to Rwanda’s GDP,” Karasira said.
The tourism sector earned over $303 million last year, with visits to the volcanoes mountains to see gorillas contributing over $15.7million.
