Why you can’t fly direct from Kisumu to Kampala

The East African Tourism Platform intends to market the whole region as one tourism unit. Do you see this succeeding?

East Africans have always been one people. They have for centuries always done business across borders. Wildlife is one of the most shared resources among East African countries. We are only strengthening these ties through tourism marketing.

Any tangible gains to show for the four years of EATP’s presence?

Yes. We have managed to convince at least three countries — Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda — to implement the single tourism visa. A foreigner can now use this to enter any of the countries. East Africans, too, can now travel freely in the three counties using their respective national identity cards and an interstate pass. This means that a resident does not need to spend time looking for a temporary travel document.

But your own country Burundi, and Tanzania, are still out of this regional deal...

This is a coalition of the willing. Once they fully understand its purpose and what they are missing, they will obviously get on board.

East African citizens usually feel left out in the development of tourism products. How do you intend to address that?

That seemed to have been the case in times past. However, this is changing as hoteliers and other stakeholders are developing affordable prices for locals. In fact, looking at the recent holiday season, majority of those who used Kenya’s beach products were East Africans. You cannot ignore a market of 160 million people.

Being from Burundi, how well do you understand the tourism product in the other (East African) countries?

My presidential appointment to head the Burundi tourism body in 2014 gave me first-hand experience on matters tourism. Besides, I worked in Tanzania managing hotels as well as in Uganda, and Rwanda and Congo managing gorilla conservation. I have even managed a tour company in Kenya. In short, I have worked and lived in all the five East African countries.

And you almost never got into the tourism world were it not for your father?

Very true. My father was a doctor and as you know, medical facilities in a country like Burundi are few and far between. Thus, my father, together with others in the medical field, would organise medical camps from one district to another. We would go through almost all the national parks in Burundi. I was about eight or nine. I came to love wildlife and wished every child my age would visit our parks. That inspired me to go ahead and study International Travel Management at University of Brighton (Bachelor’s degree) and Tourism Destination Management (Master’s degree) at the University College of Birmingham, United Kingdom.

What is the greatest challenge to tourism development in the region?

Air connectivity. It is hard to understand why despite all countries working for a common market, we do not consider East Africa as one airspace. There ought to be an open sky policy where all airlines operate under one rule. As an example, why is there no direct flight between Kisumu and Kampala? If you want to fly from Kisumu to Entebbe, you first come to Nairobi and take another 40-minute flight to Entebbe, which is more expensive and time consuming.

Again, there are no direct flights between Bujumbura (Burundi) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), two neighboring countries. To travel to Dar from Burundi, one has to pass though Kenya at a cost of $514. In addition, Kenya and Tanzania are the only countries within the EAC with a beach front. Yet it is not directly accessible by air for people in Uganda or Burundi.

Does this problem affect international travelers to the region as well?

Yes. A visitor to Mombasa from Washington DC has to fly to Europe, then to Nairobi from where he has to wait for another five hours for a flight to Mombasa. Why can’t the person fly directly from Europe to Mombasa? Suppose the same tourist wants to visit the Mara and the Serengeti on the same day, do you know the plane cannot cross over from Mara to Serengeti that is just a few minutes away from any airstrip in the Mara? Yet we all love Europe because you can visit 25 countries from any direction without extra visa fees.

This must frustrate you

No, I don’t like to get frustrated or tired. I just can’t fathom why we make it harder for East Africans to travel in the region by air but make it easier for foreigners.

What is the solution?

We are lobbying authorities on these issues. It is about the economics of scale. We increase the volume of travel, have more new routes and invite other carriers to compete. The prices of air travel will come down while volumes will go up. I have also been going around the region training immigration officials on the need to simplify border restrictions for residents and foreigners alike.