BUJUMBURA September 28th (ABP) – Participants at the East African Community (EAC) Regional Tourism Exhibition Conference from September 24 to 26, 2022, at Bujumbura Circle Horse, have recommended to the governments of their respective countries to set up a regional budget to facilitate the preparations and organization of regional tourism exhibitions.
They also recommended that the EAC Partner States work closely with tourism offices and the private sector, notably the East African Tourism Platform, towards the development of databases of buyers and commercial partners of the EAC as that block.
The seminars should be well structured within the framework of enhancing and enriching the commitment on the relevant subjects to be developed, they continued while considering that the partner States should organize regular exhibitions at the national level within the framework of raising their visibility in as tourist destinations.
Those participants did not fail to recommend to the partner States of the EAC to work in close collaboration in the promotion of the opportunities found in the tourist investment.
Regional tourism value chains should be strengthened to spearhead tourism benefits for local communities and citizens of the EAC. There is a need for the EAC General Secretariat to deliberate efforts in collaboration with partner states in involving women and youth in the tourism sector, they added.
Since all the partner states of the EAC are rich in tourist attractions, it is necessary to create a synergy of actions and to work in collaboration for the promotion of the region as a unique tourist destination. Partner states should be innovative and develop tourism products that protect natural ecosystems and biodiversity, participants at the second edition of the EAC regional tourism exhibition insisted.
According to them, it is important for the EAC Partner States to facilitate the process of liberalization of airspaces for the promotion of tourism industries in the region.
Note that the 2nd edition of the EAC regional tourism exhibition conference saw the participation of six out of seven partner countries of this community, namely Burundi, DR Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania.