Kigali will be the venue for a Pan African community tourism meeting between January 25 and 27, bringing together a range of experts from Eastern Africa and the rest of the continent. Sponsors include – besides the Rwanda Development Board, Tourism and Conservation – the Commonwealth Secretariat, Dutch development agency SNV, and the International Trade Centre, all working hand in hand to promote community tourism across the “land of a thousand hills.” More details about the program of the conference and its objectives are outlined below:
AIM
The aim of the workshop is to build capacity of relevant support institutions and share information on approaches, tools, methodologies, and valuable experiences for implementing sustainable tourism programs that reduce poverty.
CONTENT
The workshop will address the following key issues:
– Global issues of tourism and poverty reduction for Africa, in light of the global financial crisis and climate change
– How tourism value chains can be modified to improve local economic development in destinations, while ensuring environmental and social sustainability
– Interventions to improve market linkages for the poor in tourism supply chains, while ensuring quality products and services
– The use of public private partnerships for conservation and poverty reduction
It is envisaged that the workshop will lead to enhanced capacity within government and private sector institutions to adopt sustainable tourism practices within their countries.
Participants will have an improved understanding of the importance of the tourism sector in reducing poverty, how the poor participate in tourism supply chains, and how public private partnerships can be used to stimulate investment that promotes sustainable tourism.