EAC and Tourism & Wildlife Management
East Africa has recorded impressive achievements in the realm of tourism owing to the conscious efforts by EAC Partner States to work together in promoting growth in the sector. The tourism sector contributes an average of about 17% to export earnings and makes a substantial contribution to the GDP averaging at around 9.5%. It generates about 7% of employment in the region. The success of the tourism sector has benefited from immense private sector investments in hotels, transportation, marketing and product development, and dedicated government efforts in conservation. One of the priorities of the EAC is promoting its Partner States as a single destination, where tourists can visit various sites across EAC Partner States easily and cheaply through a single multi-entry visa system thereby creating benefits across the region for the tourism sector. In addition, Partner States have agreed on joint promotion of tourist attraction sites, the adoption of EAC preferential rates for EAC citizens, which are applicable to public tourist sites such as parks and museums, and harmonisation of criteria for Hotels as well as other accommodation establishments. EAC activities are guided by the EAC Tourism Marketing Strategy that was adopted by Partner States in 2021.
The German Government supports this EAC Sector under Core Area 1 of EAC-German cooperation as defined by BMZ 2030 – “Sustainable Economic Development, Training and Employment” in the Intervention Area of “Socially and Environmentally Sound Supply Chains, Trade and Sustainable Infrastructure”. The cooperation directly contributes to implement two of the eight priority areas defined by the 6th EAC Development Strategy, namely “Strengthening Productive and Social Sectors” and “Awareness Creation”. The BMZ 2030 reform strategy focuses on a new quality of cooperation. More information on BMZ 2030 can be found here.