Rwandas national tourism agency, Visit Rwanda, continues to harness its sponsorship of English Premier League football club Arsenal to promote the countrys community-led conservation and tourism offerings to key source markets around the world.
In July, the DMO hosted an exclusive event Conversation on Community-led Conservation on the sidelines of Arsenals summer tour of the USA. The event at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles aimed to promote Rwandas eco-tourism, raise awareness of conservation efforts and support the 20 th Kwita Izina gorilla naming ceremony, taking place on October 18. Club legends Gilberto Silva and Theo Walcott featured at the event, which was also attended by conservation partners, leading tourism and travel operators and commercial partners.
Ariella Kageruka , Head of Tourism and Conservation at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), noted that, as a result of the conservation efforts of the Rwandan government and its private-sector partners, mountain gorillas were downlisted from critically endangered to endangered.
Mountain gorillas are the only great ape population that is increasing anywhere in the world, said Kageruka, referring to an increase from 620 in 1989 to just over 1000 today.
The event highlighted the successful collaboration between Visit Rwanda and Arsenal in bringing attention to eco-tourism and community-centred conservation efforts. The partnership has been in place since 2018 with Visit Rwanda as an official partner on shirt sleeves and in tourism.
