East African Business Week

Arusha, Tanzania - The EAC Sectoral Council on Tourism and Wildlife Management has called on Partner States to fast-track the introduction of a single EAC tourist visa saying the process is taking too long.
Experts in the sector attending the just concluded 4th Meeting of the Sectoral Council in Mombasa, Kenya expressed concern that the Task Force established to conduct the study on the EAC single tourist visa was taking too much time to complete the study report.
The meeting directed the Heads of Tourist Boards and Chiefs of Immigration to complete the report by this month  and the EAC Secretariat was directed to submit the study report to Partner States before the 5th Sectoral Council meeting to be held in Bujumbura, Burundi in April next year for consideration and adoption.
The meeting further directed EAC Partner States to involve stakeholders and make comments on the study and submit them to the Secretariat for compilation and allow Partner States which are ready to proceed bilaterally under the principle of variable geometry.
The EAC Tourism and Wildlife sectoral meeting resolved that Partner States should work to remove the numerous bottlenecks that the sector faces.
At the meeting, Kenya's Minister for Tourism,  Najib Balala urged his counterparts in the EAC to consider fast-tracking regional issues in the tourism and wildlife management sectors in order to strengthen the EAC as a single tourist destination.
Balala urged Partner States to develop a common marketing strategy to sell the region as the ideal tourist destination. He expressed concern that tourism in the region lagged behind other sectors despite its huge potential because Partner States failed to jointly address key issues that affect the sector.
He decried red tape in the issuance of visas by individual Partner States and called for the adoption of a common visa. He said fear of the unknown and unfounded suspicions harbored by   some Partner States, was holding back efforts to take the Community to the next level of integration.
"If we work together, the number of tourists visiting the region will rise, thereby bringing more foreign currency to grow our economies. A single tourist visa will bring diversity which will in turn make East Africa one of the top tourist destinations not only on the African continent but in the entire world," said the Kenyan Minister.
Balala added that the EAC has lots to offer in terms of tourist attractions, from the scenic white sand beaches in all states to the rare gorillas of Rwanda and Uganda.
He said today's tourists are no longer interested in the traditional beaches and safaris but are looking for something memorable and would like to travel across borders.
"We should work together to market the region aggressively in the international tourist circuits and at the same time issue a single tourist visa to the international visitors because they want to sample the products we have to offer as a region," said the Tourism Minister. He called on Partner States to increase funding for the industry for the bloc to effectively compete with other African  countries.