BUJUMBURA October 24th (ABP) – Promoting tourism to make it an essential lever for socio-economic growth of the country, is the objective of the national tourism policy and its implementation which were analyzed by the Cabinet meeting. Wednesday October 18 under the presidency of Burundian Head of State Evariste Ndayishimiye, according to the press release published by the General Secretariat of the Government.
The national tourism policy and its implementation are aligned with the Vision “Burundi emerging in 2040 and developed in 2060”, and especially on the National Development Plan, through axis 3: “Development of the mining, industrial and artisanal”. The vision of that Policy, specifies that press release, is to make Burundi an essential destination in the countries of the EAC Community for its sustainable socio-economic development.
That vision will be materialized by 10 strategic orientations which contribute to the overall development of the Tourism industry. That concerns the management of the tourism offer, the establishment of the legal framework and an organizational system for tourism, the development of human resources, knowledge management, improvement of the tourism business climate, improving the quality of tourism products, financing the development and promotion of tourism in Burundi, positioning Burundian tourism products in relation to those of African countries, facilitating travel to Burundi and establishment of the Burundi tourist police. To implement all the objectives set by that policy, a budget of 10,850,000 US dollars is necessary, over a period of ten years.
During the analysis of that policy, several observations and recommendations were made. The latter concern the verification of the accuracy of certain data, the training of elements of the national police in tourism matters instead of setting up a tourist police which would be contrary to the law and the improvement of tourism from the existing.
Other observations made concern, among other things, the classification of hotels on the basis of objective criteria referring to international standards and the improvement of the quality of services provided by hotels, the fight against corruption at the country’s points of entry, the training of tourist guides, the development of a site to accommodate Burundian chimpanzees found in Kenya and accelerate the process of their repatriation.
The Cabinet also encourages the involvement of the private sector in the development of Tourism, the training of civil servants responsible for supervising visitors, the development of strategies aimed at attracting more tourists, the suppression of certain notions and images which can give a negative image of tourism in Burundi and the relocation of the tombs located at the Palace of November 1st to the Mausoleum of Prince Louis Rwagasore and rename the latter “Place des Martyrs” and make that Palace “A Museum of the History of Burundi “.
Improving the reception at Melchior Ndadaye international airport through appropriate training for staff assigned there, the quality of the internet as well as the hotel infrastructure is also among the main recommendations of the Cabinet.