Barbados, Rwanda aim to boost airlift, tourism exchanges

By Jenique Belgrave

Barbados and the East African nation of Rwanda are looking to establish connections in tourism that could lead to the introduction of direct flights between the two nations.

Shortly after signing a Memorandum of Understanding at the Hilton Barbados on Friday morning, Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Ian Gooding-Edghill, alongside Rwanda’s foreign minister for East African Community, Professor Nshuti Manasseh, highlighted various areas of collaboration, with a focus on enhancing visitor flows between the countries.

Gooding-Edghill said: “We want to increase, as I indicated, our tourist flows into Barbados. We are going to obviously explore the opportunities for airlift out of Africa, into Rwanda, specifically into Barbados. We are going to promote cooperation, we’re going to promote training. Barbados has a long history of involvement within the tourism industry and therefore, we believe that there are skills that we can obviously share with the government of Rwanda, and obviously, the government of Rwanda can certainly share some of their skills with us as well.”

The two nations will also explore ways to encourage tourism investments in both regions. Gooding-Edghill revealed that Barbados is seeking to expand into markets in Latin America and the Persian Gulf.

The dialogue will continue, with both Rwanda and Barbados planning familiarisation trips for tour operators, travel agents, and other individuals who can aid in marketing the destinations, the tourism minister said. They are also delving into the realms of heritage and sports tourism. An activation team will be sent to Rwanda to expand on the Memorandum of Understanding.

Minister of State in Charge of East African Community at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Republic of Rwanda Professor Nshuti Manasseh and Minister of Tourism and International Transport Ian Gooding-Edghill sign the MOU while Permanent Secretary Francine Blackman looks on.

“For us, this is about heritage, it is about sports tourism, and it’s also building out a keen interest that we have within the Ministry in respect of the mandate for tourism. If we’re going to grow our tourism sector, we have to look to new markets, and this relationship and with the signing of the MOU, signals our ministry’s very clear intention to continue to execute that strategy,” he said.

Professor Manasseh welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with Barbados, emphasizing that tourism could be a game-changer. He noted that a synergy between the two nations could be mutually beneficial, saying, “We are not competing; we are complementing each other.”

“In terms of our products, you have beautiful beaches, the best I have ever seen…Back home, we have rivers and parks, so we complement each other. We are working and making sure that we fly to Barbados, and we think tourism could be one way of making the flights viable if you market the two countries as destinations so that tourists will come to Barbados and can also have a chance to visit Rwanda,” he said.

jeniquebelgrave@barbadostoday.bb