(DTIS) Update, Volume 1 – Main report - Enhanced Integrated ...

in the country. In the meantime, an alternative could be to seek the entry of charter operators frommajor tourist source markets. Furthermore, the insertion in regional circuits could also allowBurundi to attract tourists visiting other East African countries, and hence to benefit from thebetter connections of their international airports, including the regional hubs in Nairobi and AddisAbaba. Beside flights from Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Kigali or Johannesburg, tourists could enterBurundi by road or lake if the corresponding infrastructure is improved.o Streamlining visa processing. Minimal visa requirements can contribute to improving air trafficinfrastructure by stimulating demand. In this regard, the announced end of the possibility fortourists to obtain a visa on arrival is a negative signal, as the securing of tourist visas upon arrivalhas become a common practice in East African countries. The reasons justifying this policyreversal should be clarified, including the potential political economy factors linked to thecollection of visa fees. Burundi could also consider the quick-win of simplifying visa requirementsfor tourists, by re-introducing visa-on-arrival, or even by allowing tourists to visit Burundi for ashort period of time with a simple passport stamp. As a matter of fact, all Southern Africancountries are already visa-free (World Bank 2011a) and Rwanda has waived tourist visarequirements for citizens of some source markets, including the US, UK and Germany 127 .o Enhancing the availability of utility networks and essential services: Targeted measures arerequired in potential tourism zones to improve the availability of energy, water, sanitation andessential services demanded by tourists. For example, clinics could be built to address healthconcerns. Another important avenue for action is the necessity to develop financial services, toenhance the financing options available for tourism investment projects and to provide alternativesto cash for tourists. In this regard, the regional dimension could be critical (cf. infra).Finally, as explained in more details in the next section, one critical recommendation concerns thenecessity for Burundi to fully participate in the regional integration of tourism services initiated at theEAC level.6. The regional integration of tourism services as an opportunityTourism is an important area of cooperation for the EAC, and several joint initiatives havealready been launched 128 . Member States have developed a common agenda to promote the industry, asplanned in art. 115 of the EAC treaty and outlined in the Community’s third (2006-2010) and fourth(2011/2012-2015/2016) development strategies. The overall objectives are i) to take advantage ofnational complementarities to elaborate a single regional offer of tourism services for internationalvisitors, and ii) to promote intra-regional tourism. The main initiatives implemented or envisagedinclude:- the creation of an East African Tourism and Wildlife Coordination Agency (EATWCA), whichwill be responsible for the regional tourism policy including marketing but is not operationalyet 129 ;- the marketing of East Africa as a single destination, with some joint participation at the Londonand Berlin international tourism fairs since 2007;- the implementation of common classification criteria for tourism facilities (which are currently notapplied to a meaningful degree in Burundi). A curriculum for hotel assessors has been approvedand Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda have trained EAC-recognized assessors in 2009/2012;127 www.migration.gov.rw/visitor-s-tourism-visa.html128 www.eac.int/travel129 SADC countries established a similar regional tourism agency in 1997, governed by public and private sectorrepresentatives (www.retosa.co.za).144 / 153