NEW VISA IN ADVANCE POLICY SEEN AS HUGELY DETRIMENTAL TO BURUNDI TOURISM
(Posted 24th February 2015)
‘First the departure of Carmen Nibigira as Director General and now Visa in advance? This double whammy will very likely push Burundi’s tourism sector back into the tourism stone age’ responded a Kenya based source whose company had tried to put together add on packages out of Nairobi for tourists with time at hand, money to spend and the desire to see more of Eastern Africa, the decision taken while already in Kenya on a vacation. ‘And you must not forget that the Burundians were doing Tanzania’s bidding when they refused to join the common tourist Visa initiative for which we together with Uganda and Rwanda signed up. I just tore up all those itinerary drafts and forget about offering Burundi extensions until they come to their senses’.
This rant broadly reflects the range of opinions heard from across the three Northern Corridor Integration Project countries, aka Coalition of the Willing.
Burundi’s tourism industry woke from a long coma when Carmen Nibigira was appointed to the position of Director General of Burundi Tourism and there was a sudden buzz about a country where tourism, in economic terms, still plays the least significant role compared to the other four East African Community member states. Activities chased activities in Bujumbura with Carmen at the helm but both ministerial changes – equally seen as unhelpful the way they played out – and Carmen’s departure after just one year in office brought much of the planned activities to an almost instant halt again.
While reportedly a new Director General was appointed recently, this appears to be a carefully hidden fact as the private sector across the EAC, and most of the media houses, are still blissfully unaware of this development.
‘Support can quickly flip 180 degrees into a state of just giving them a cold shoulder because if they ignore us we will ignore them too’ commented a tourism editor from a daily newspaper in the region, who had also noticed the downturn in visibility and sound levels from Bujumbura.
The new measures come into effect on 01st of March 2015 according to a letter received in copy and published here to spread this information more widely, something Burundi herself did apparently not find necessary to forewarn potential visitors that they either arrive with their Visa or else be shipped back to where they came from.
The East African Tourism Platform, the private sector apex body which brings together the tourism sectors of the five EAC member states, was swift to react to this development, which notably came hot on the heels of a major UNWTO report how relaxing Visa rules has helped to spur tourism growth across other parts of the world.
Courtesy of Waturi Wa Matu, the Coordinator at EATP, was their position paper received and it shows, that the country with the least number of arrivals, the least percentage contribution to the GDP and the least tourism revenues has for all intent and purpose shot itself in both legs with the new directive:
Start Quote
‘THE IMPACT OF VISA FACILITATION ON TRAVEL AND TOURISM
A case for advancing visa facilitation as a powerful instrument of regional integration and
socio-economic development in Burundi.
I. THE ROLE OF TRAVEL AND TOURISM
Over the years, Travel & Tourism has become one of the most dynamic economic sectors in
the world. Today, it represents 9% of the world’s GDP, 30% of the exports of services and one in
every 11 jobs. The sector is one of the fastest growing industries in the world with global tourist
arrivals having already exceeded the 1.1 Billion mark in 2013.
In many developing countries, Travel and Tourism is the most viable and sustainable economic
development option. In some countries, it is the main source of foreign exchange earnings. The
sector is highly labour intensive and has several backward and forward linkages with extensive
multiple ripple effects in several economic activities. It is therefore a key catalyst for socialeconomic
development that should top the agenda of every country.
Travel & Tourism contribution in East Africa
The East Africa Community is a leading tourist destination in Sub Sahara Africa. In 2012, tourism
in East Africa is reported to have contributed US$12.8bn with the industry’s total contribution to
the GDP ranging between 4.8% on the lower level as is the case with Burundi and 13.2% on the
higher level for Tanzania.
Table 1.1: East Africa’s Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2012
Country International arrivals GDP: Employment GDP: Total Contribution
Burundi
265,890 4.8% 75,000 $112,857,142.86
Kenya
1,300,000 12.5% 594,500 $ 5,179,190,751.45
Rwanda
1,075,789 7.5% 136,000 $ 485,693,215.34
Tanzania
1,077,058 13.2% 1,199,500 $ 4,019,135,802.47
Uganda
1,200,000 8.8% 483,500 $ 3,045,061,728.40
Total EAC
4,918,737.0 9% 2,488,500 $ 12,841,938,640.51
Source: The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) – the economic impact of travel & tourism
2012
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Eastern Africa Sub-region Office
(UNECASRO-EA) in its report “Towards a Sustainable Tourism Industry in Eastern Africa- a Study
on the Challenges and Opportunities for Tourism Development” pointed out that “the region
does not rank favourably as a competitive destination”. One of the key reasons given included;
the lack of a conducive policy and regulatory framework with Visa and immigration facilitation
reported as a major concern needing policy reforms.
PRIVATE SECTOR POSITION OF VISA AND IMMIGRATION REFORM IN BURUNDI – Prepared by the East
Africa Tourism Platform
II. THE IMPACT OF VISA AND IMMIGRATION FACILITATION ON TRAVEL & TOURISM
In order to fully reap the benefits Travel & Tourism can bring to an economy, it is necessary to
put in place conditions that make the country easy to visit as well as attractive to develop, and
to facilitate investment in its Travel & Tourism sector.
Visa and immigration policies are among the most important governmental policies influencing
international tourism. The development of standards and procedures for visas, as well as for
other important travel documents such as passports, are closely linked to the development of
Travel & Tourism.
With the swift growth of the sector over the last six decades, the quality, reliability, and
functionality of visas and other travel documents has evolved. Half a century ago, travel was
heavily constrained by customs regulations, currency exchange limitations, and visa formalities.
A great deal of progress has however been made in travel facilitation, which continues to
contribute to the remarkable growth of the sector. Especially noteworthy are the multilateral
agreements that mutually exempt all or certain categories of travellers from the visa
requirement.
However, despite the progress made, current visa policies are still regularly mentioned as
inadequate and inefficient, and are thus acknowledged to be an obstacle to both tourism
and economic growth.
Visas perform several important functions:
1. They serve to ensure security;
2. They control immigration and limit the entry, duration of stay, or activities of travellers;
3. They generate revenue and apply measures of reciprocity; and
4. They safeguard a destination’s carrying capacity by controlling tourism demand.
Although “security” is commonly stated to be the most important reason to impose a visa
requirement, in practice, all the above functions exist as reasons for the introduction or
maintenance of visa requirements.
Travellers see visas mainly as a formality that imposes a cost. If the cost of obtaining a visa –
either the direct monetary cost imposed in the form of fees or the indirect costs, which can
include distance, time spent waiting in lines, and the complexity of the process – exceeds a
threshold, potential travellers are simply deterred from making a particular journey or choose
an alternative destination with less hassle.
This finding is not new. It is interesting in this context to note that, in 1963, the delegates of 87
states agreed, at the United Nations Conference on International Travel & Tourism in Rome,
that “Governments should extend to the maximum number of countries the practice of
abolishing, through bilateral agreements or by unilateral decision, the requirement of entry visas
for temporary visitors.”
PRIVATE SECTOR POSITION OF VISA AND IMMIGRATION REFORM IN BURUNDI – Prepared by the East
Africa Tourism Platform
1.1 Visa and immigration policy effect
The benefits of visa reforms can be seen historically in the form of observable increases in
visitation, tourism receipts, employment after a reform is implemented (and, conversely,
declines in visitation after more restrictive policies were implemented).
In the joint research conducted by UNWTO and WTTC presented to the 4th T20 Ministers’
Meeting in May 2012 a series of case studies were analysed to estimate the effects of changes
in visa policy on tourist arrivals, controlling for non-visa related drivers of tourism, e.g. economic
and political factors. This research concluded that facilitative visa policy changes increased
tourist arrivals from the affected market in a range of 5% to 25% per year on average over a
three-year period.
1.2 Current Visa and immigration facilitation policy reforms in East Africa
A great deal of progress has been made in travel facilitation in the EAC that will contribute to
the remarkable growth of the tourism sector in the next three years. This includes the Single
Tourist Visa, Use of National Identification cards, on arrival visa policies and waiver of visa fees
for most African Countries in Rwanda for example.
Most recently Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda under the Northern Corridor Integration Projects
waived visa fees for foreign residents residing in these Partner States to facilitate free movement
for leisure, business and other forms of travel. The three Partner states have also agreed to fast
track e-visa applications and issuance to facilitate easy access into their territories.
III. VISA FACILITATION AND IMMIGRATION FACILITATION; AREAS OF OPPORTUNITY FOR BURUNDI
A Joint research by UNWTO and WTTC, presented to the 4th T20 Ministers’ Meeting in May 2012,
demonstrated that improving visa processes could generate an additional US$ 206 billion in
tourism receipts and create as many as 5.1 million jobs by 2015 in the G20 economies. The
analysis also identified five important areas of opportunity for entry visa facilitation:
1. Improve the delivery of information;
2. Facilitate current processes;
3. Provide differentiated treatment for key market segments;
4. Implement eVisa programmes;
5. Establish regional agreements.
Improve the delivery of information
The availability and reliability of the information on entry formalities especially visa requirements
and procedures that destinations provide are among the simplest areas of opportunity to
address. This information especially the elements of entry formalities of importance to the
traveller should also be available in multiple languages, have simple instructions, and be
reliably available through a clear and official web site.
Facilitate current processes needed to obtain visas
A major opportunity for improvement is the way visa requests for temporary visitors are
processed in general, as well as the requirements linked to this process. Whether these
requirements are personal interviews, official documents, or certificates, they usually produce
at least temporary bottlenecks as well as uncertainty and long wait times. Among the
techniques suitable for improving these processes are the better use of modern information
technology by service providers and the consideration of visas on arrival.
PRIVATE SECTOR POSITION OF VISA AND IMMIGRATION REFORM IN BURUNDI – Prepared by the East
Africa Tourism Platform
End quote
Burundi’s tourism industry has been strangely quiet about this development, a surprise as it is their business which will be most affected by these new Visa measures. There have been suggestions from political analysts in the region that this development is part of a wider plot to keep in particular the media, NGO’s and democracy activists out of the country in the run up to the forthcoming elections. Controversially is the incumbent president trying to stand for another term of office in what is largely seen as a violation of the Arusha Peace Accord under which the present coalition government was formed. It would not be the first time that foreign tourists are perceived as potential spies and enemies of a regime, one most notable example having been the dictatorship of Idi Amin in Uganda in the 1970’s where tourism in the end indeed became an ‘enemy of state’ – state of course meaning Amin and Amin alone. Tourism in Uganda, which prior to Amin’s reign of terror led the entire region, subsequently collapsed and took until the early 1990’s before taking root again and undergoing a revival.
The region’s tourism industry is now watching with bated breath how their colleagues will be dealing with such measures and if at all they will have the guts to speak up, speak out and demand that these measures be withdrawn before they come into effect.
No doubt has Burundi her own tourism attractions and many stakeholders in the region, from neighbouring Rwanda to Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania last year took a fresh look at Burundi’s national parks. It will not be long before time will tell if all those efforts were in vain, wasted almost, and all for political expediency and to serve the purpose of one over the need of many others. Watch this space.
