Rwanda has extended promotional rates for gorilla permits to boost its growing tourism. The tiny East African countries which is one of the best destinations for gorilla trekking has extended discounted gorilla permits until December 31st 2024.
As part of promoting the recovery of tourism after the Covid 19 breakout, Rwanda discounted its gorilla permit rates from US$1500 to US$200 for East Africans, US$500 for African Citizens and Foreign Residents of Africa with valid work permits. International travelers pay US$1500 to obtain gorilla permits for gorilla tracking in the Volcanoes National Park Rwanda.
The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has confirmed that the move to discount gorilla permits is a wider effort to make Rwanda attractive to tourists. The new price regime has been renewed and is valid up to 31st December 2024.
The move is likely to boost tourism and has been welcomed by tour operators as a positive move to increase earnings from gorilla tourism, the back bone of Rwanda’s tourism industry.
Tourists from around the whole world travel to the Volcanoes National Park for a once in a lifetime experience with the mountain gorillas and the receipts earned from tourism are used to fund the efforts to conserve the apes.
Rwanda is one of the few destinations which hosts the mountain gorillas, the world’s rare great apes. These mountain dwelling primates are confined to the Virunga Massif – that includes the Volcanoes National Park, Uganda’s Mgahinga National Park and the Virunga National Park of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A separate population also thrive in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in South Western Uganda.
The country has reached a great milestone in protecting the mountain gorillas and there are reports of a growing population of the great apes that were previously listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
