East Africa: East African Tourism Chiefs Want Joint Visa for Tourists
allafrica.com
EAST African heads of tourist boards want a joint visa for all the five member countries.
"We want that when a person visits East Africa, his passport is stamped with one visa. He/she visits all the five countries without getting visas for individual countries," Dr. Ongong'a Achieng, the managing director of Kenya Tourist Board, said.
The tourist chiefs from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi were in Kampala last week. James Bahinguza, the head of the Uganda Tourism Board, hosted the chiefs at the tourism ministry offices on Parliament Avenue in Kampala.
They were mapping a way forward on how to market East Africa as a single tourist destination.
The heads also discussed how East Africa could charge a common tariff from tourists.
They also recommended that border posts be open to all tourists.
The three-day meeting raised concern over Kenya's increment of a tourist visa to Uganda to $50 (sh86,000) from $35 (sh60,200).
"Tourism is a fast growing sector in the world. We want it to grow fast even in East Africa," the head of the Tanzanian tourist board said.
The chiefs toured some of Uganda's tourist attractions.
