Roundup: East African ministers agree to revamp free movement of tourists

East African ministers of tourism have agreed to revitalize the free movement of tourists through the promotion of a single tourism visa for Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, to ease travel woes for both local and foreign visitors.

Kenya's tourism minister Najib Balala said on Wednesday that the ministers from the three countries met in Kenya from Oct. 9-11 to discuss promoting the region as a single travel destination in order to attract foreign visitors and encourage domestic tourism.

"The biggest bottleneck we faced was ensuring the free movement of people using their national identity cards," Balala told reporters in Nairobi after attending the opening of the Magical Travel Expo, an annual travel promotion event in Nairobi.

Heads of State from the East African Community (EAC) agreed to launch the regional initiative to ease the free movement of people across the region using the national identity documents in 2014.

The free movement of people is part of the region's customs territory, one of the pre-requirements for the launch of an East African Federation, which is still in the planning process.

Balala said the use of the national identity cards to travel across the region was part of initiatives to increase trade and tourism. The countries of the region also agreed to release the region's single visa, known as the univisa, allowing tourists to enter each of the states.

"The single visa has received low numbers because of the lack of awareness," Balala said.

At least 4,000 tourists have used the univisa since it was launched as an initiative to promote tourism to the EAC as a single destination.

Tanzania, an international tourism hotspot, and Burundi, have opted out of the single tourism visa initiative, citing lack of benefits.

Balala said the rest of the EAC countries were still hoping the Tanzanian and Burundian governments would see the benefit of the joint tourism marketing initiatives.

The Kenyan tourism minister said to effectively compete with foreign exotic locations such as the Caribbean Island states, the region needs to work together to attract tourists internationally, using the various tourist attractions and products available regionally.

In Kenya, the authorities have long depended on wildlife safaris and beach resorts for tourists while in Uganda, the region's ministers of tourism recommend the promotion of new products such as cruise adventures of Lake Victoria.

In Rwanda, the region wants more emphasis on mountain gorillas to enable the East African tourism package to sound more enticing to international visitors. Endit