Pleasant news today for travelers and tourists comming to East Africa will soon use single visa
With two moves happening at the same time – the recent commencement of the EAC Common market freedoms of movement of people, capital and trade, and the envisioned single visa provision for tourists coming to the EAC countries of Uganda Kenya , Rwanda Tanzania and Burundi. This achievement is definitely a welcome plus to tourists coming to do east african safaris.
Both EAC travelers and foreigners will be able to plan and budget for their travel expenses based on room rates and quality of services provided wherever they may be.
This evaluating and awarding of ‘stars’ protects the consumers of hotels services, and also provides an incentive to hotel owners and management to improve their quality into to raise the rates of its services and attract visitors. This stars awarding exercise comes on the heels of another categorization of EAC game parks to provide tourists a choice of quality destinations and know the same classification applies in the whole EAC. Prior to this EAC realization and effecting of this hospitality measure many hotels self-awarded stars, generously, some as five-star hotels.
The grading process is in line with the November 2006, the EAC Council of Ministers’ approval for classification and standardization in the EAC partner states to lure more capital in the region by ensuring high quality tourism facilities and better management of the hospitality industry.
According to 2008 hotels’ inventory Tanzania has 339 hotels with 10,790 rooms. Dar City has only 66 qualified for star categories, whilst in Rwanda, Kigali has 21 hotels which are recommended for travelers. However, it is only the Kigali Serena Hotel which is rated at five-star level. Bujumbura, Burundi, where 12 hotels are recommended for travelers and tourists, it’s only the Novotel Bujumbura which has been rated at four-star level.
Kampala, with 36 hotels suitable for tourists and travelers, and Entebbe – 16 hotels, only Kampala Serena Hotel has been rated at five-star level, while in Kenya, Nairobi city has 59 hotels recommended for business tourists and travelers. Categorized as five-star tells in Nairobi are Nairobi Serena Hotel, Fairmont, The Norfolk, Intercontinental Nairobi and LAICO Regency Hotel. This timely move deserves to be applauded by travelers and tourists because it puts the EAC on world tourism map, although posing a challenge to hotels owners to keep improving their hospitality facilities.
