Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda will introduce a joint East African visa from 1 January 2014. The Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda Ministers and High Commissioner officially made the announcement of the new cross-border visa this week at the Rwanda Development Board Stand at this year’s World Travel Market held annually at the Excel London.
At present tourists travelling between the neighbouring East African countries must obtain a separate visa for each nation, therefore Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda are partnering in order to simplify travel arrangements for holidaymakers, as well as creating a new brand for the whole region in turn opening up opportunities for joint marketing campaigns.
Uganda’s Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities of Uganda Hon Dr Maria Mutagamba, commented: “Visitors to our region will benefit from the new, more convenient multi-nation visa and will see the improvements in security, immigration systems, infrastructure and capacity building that this system brings.”
The High Commissioner of Rwanda to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Williams Nkurunziza noted: “ Our three Presidents are strong believers in Regional integration, including in the management of our tourism assets. They changed Rwanda to coordinate the transition to our single tourism visa. Six months later, we are happy to announce the utilisation of this objective. Single visa, one destination.”
