CARMEN NIBIGIRA – A SWANSONG OF A REMARKABLE YEAR AT BURUNDI TOURISM
(Posted 12th December 2014)
Carmen Nibigira, immediate former Head of Burundi Tourism, who arrived like a whirlwind early this year and who brought a breath of fresh air in to the corridors of Burundi’s primary marketing agency, has yesterday spoken out about her time at the helm and the accomplishments of her team over the past year. When the news were broken last week that she was leaving the agency there was broad disappointment expressed from across Eastern Africa where she had made a name for Burundi as a centre of art, cuisine, sports and adventure tourism, and most sentiments focusing on the future of the tourism office without her falling back into a state of silence as was the case until a year ago. Carmen proved to be a remarkable woman doing an even more remarkable job and left a pair of oversized large shoes behind for her successor to fill and to match what has been accomplished over the past 12 months.
It is therefore a sad good bye to Carmen from us all, the media, other tourism boards and private sector associations, wishing her well in her future ventures:
Start quote:
Dear Friends of Burundi and
Colleagues:
From the bottom of my heart, I thank
you all for the overwhelming messages of
support and encouragement. I am deeply
moved and I feel honoured.
First, I want to thank both the Government
and the people of Burundi for providing
me with an opportunity to serve my
country in the role of Director General of
the national tourism office of Burundi.
The new management team and I were
appointed at a time when Burundi was
looking at reviving its tourism sector and
aligning itself with a tourism strategy that
would also be in sync with other regional
countries within the East African Community
Ours was a desire to offer Burundi as a
complementary tourism destination to the
region while at the same time mapping out
new avenues through which Burundi could
create its own identity.
With the support of the team at the ONT,
the government and the private sector,
we slowly managed to turn the tide, and
Burundi is on a grand march to becoming
the de facto events capital of East Africa.
With the generous support of many of
you, we created a vibrant image of Burundi
and had Buja (Bujumbura) host some high
profile events. These included the first Bujumbura
Fashion Week, the Bujumbura Marathon, a
movie in a park and much more.
It is no doubt that the cultural and arts
scene in Buja is among one of the most
vibrant in the region and our intention
was to elevate these to an even higher
level and make some of these events
global events to bring Africa and the world
to Buja in a celebration of life, culture, arts,
fashion, music, sports and gastronomy.
Domestic tourism was our mission, and our
ultimate goal was to engage Burundians and
international residents in tourism activities
around the country, which would allow them
to discover the beauty ofthe country.
Developing our tourismproducts and improving
our customer serviceswere and will remain our
priorities in the future. Indeed, the journey
for the tourism sector has just started.
I was also privileged to travel with the
Burundian delegation earlier this year to
attend international travel and tourism
fairs such as: Tourism Bourse (ITB) in Berlin,
Germany and Foire de Lyon in France.
In Germany, through the support of
friends, colleagues and the Burundian
Diaspora, we were able to stage for the
first time numerous campaigns
across the city of Berlin in a fashion never
been witnessed before. Through these
campaigns, we were able to bring the history
and culture of Burundi closer to the
ordinary people, many of whom did not
have the slightest idea where Burundi was
located in the world.
Through such campaigns, we managed to
not only inform the German public about
Burundi and what it has to offer in terms
of tourism and investment opportunities,
but we were also able to paint a new image
of our beloved country as a peaceful
nation that was on the path to economic
prosperity and integration within the
regional economies.
In France we showcased the raw beauty
of Burundi and business opportunities in a
manner that had never been done before.
Moreover, we managed to host high-
profile media interviews with some of the
leading media houses from across Europe
and East Africa from print to digital media.
This contributed greatly to the visibility
of Burundi as a nation that had already
turned the corner and was ready to welcome
the world to sample our unrivaled
hospitality and opportunities.
Our absence over the past two decades
on the international travel and tourism
market is still strongly felt, and we believe
in the potential of our country. A window
of opportunities is opened for the tourism
sector in Burundi, and our work has just
begun. Kindly support us in our journey.
To ensure that we all had a common agenda
towards tourism marketing, development and
promotion and advancement of investments in
Burundi, the national tourism office worked
closely with the Burundi private sector, the backbone
of the tourism sector.
The Sectorial Chamber for Hotel and
Tourism at the Federal Chamber of
Commerce and Industry of Burundi was
a strong partner in our mission, and along
with the new National Tourism Commission,
the journey of bringing tourism to
the agenda of economic development was
starting to happen.
Through such partnerships, we envisioned
opening communication channels between
the private sector, which is the main stakeholder
in the travel, tourism and hospitality
industry in Burundi and the Government
of Burundi, the policy maker.
Other key partners such as the National
Institute for Conservation and the Environment,
Trade Mark East Africa, UNDP,
WTO, and PSDE were instrumental in our
mission and we hope to forge strong ties
in the future.
Such a move was aimed at ensuring that
we had a common objective and that our
plans were in sync with each other for the
advancement of the sector and the larger
Burundian economy.
While I cannot highlight all that we did in
this brief, I would like to state that I am
deeply proud of the achievements that we
managed to accomplish as a team, in spite
of the challenges that we encountered
along the way.
We rallied friends of Burundi wherever
they were, and we created the impossible:
a new website on a pro-bono basis, which
became the window of the national tourism
Office. In addition with generosity and the
support from volunteers and businesses
together, we gave a much needed facelift
to our office. I am optimistic that
the future remains bright for Burundi and
its people.
I am humbled by your continued support. I
urge all of you to continue supporting the
national tourism office of Burundi in its
quest to transform the image of Burundi
as well as to develop the tourism industry.
Support the new Director General and
his team. Let us all play our part in making
Burundi great.
This is our beloved country; Our Beautiful
Burundi.
Many thanks to you all.
Carmen NIBIGIRA
End quote.
