Rwanda reported a 17% increase in revenue from tourism last year as trekking to view the country’s mountain gorillas becomes increasingly popular.
Gorilla trekking accounted for 14% of the $498 million the country earned from the sector, the Rwanda Development Board said in an emailed reply to questions. Tourism is Rwanda’s biggest source of foreign exchange and the government is seeking to boost revenue from the industry to $800 million by 2024.
In 2018, the country doubled the price of gorilla-trekking permits to $1,500 per person.
“Rwanda welcomed 1.63 million international visitors in 2019,” the board said. “Among those, 173,944 were holiday-makers, representing a 7% increase.”
