For a country that has built a formidable international tourism brand around its gorillas, forests and polished attractions, Rwanda is increasingly turning its attention inward — to the millions of people who live within its borders but have yet to make tourism part of their everyday lives.
Domestic visits to Rwanda’s national parks increased by 8.1 per cent in 2025, rising from more than 54,000 in 2024 to 59,270, according to figures from the Rwanda Development Board (RDB).
Domestic tourism revenue also increased, although more modestly, climbing 3.5 per cent to $821,093.
The growth forms part of a broader expansion in Rwanda’s tourism industry. The sector generated $685 million in revenue in 2025, a 6 per cent increase from the previous year, while visitor arrivals rose 9 per cent to 1.49 million, according to RDB’s 2025 report.
Yet the rise in domestic travel masks a deeper challenge: tourism remains, for many Rwandans, an occasional luxury rather than an ordinary leisure activity.
“Rwandan visits to national parks increased by 8.1 percent in 2025, from more than 54,000 in 2024 to over 59,000. However, participation remains limited relative to the population,” an RDB official said in responses to The New Times.
The official, who asked not to be identified because they are not the institution’s official spokesperson, said several factors continue to hold back domestic tourism.
Among them are the perception that tourism is primarily meant for foreign or higher-income visitors, the cost of travel packages and competing household priorities.
But tourism professionals argue that money is only one part of the problem.
More than money
Cyprien Nshyimiyimana, a tour guide at Nyungwe National Park, believes Rwanda’s domestic tourism challenge also has an educational and cultural dimension.
“The issue cannot be looked at from just one angle. There is the issue of financial means, which we all know about, but there is also a lack of knowledge and understanding about certain things,” he said.
Nshyimiyimana said some Rwandans who visit destinations such as Nyungwe tend to concentrate on entertainment and recreational attractions, rather than exploring the ecological, cultural and educational value of the destinations.
“Rwandans, for the most part, tend to enjoy leisure--the enjoyment aspect of travelling. Not many people go into nature wanting to learn about plants or medicinal plants,” he said.
That, he argued, presents an opportunity for tourism operators to rethink how they package experiences for local visitors.
“Tour operators have a lot of work to do. They really need to invest heavily in educating people because leisure is not the only reason for travelling,” Nshyimimana said.
“But culturally, Rwandans have not traditionally been very inclined towards that.”
He nevertheless sees signs that attitudes are changing, particularly among younger Rwandans.
“Many destinations have already been visited by younger generations, although there is still a gap when it comes to older people,” he said.
“Older people are beginning to understand the value of travelling because they now travel with their families, and their children introduce them to travelling from a young age.”
Akagera leads domestic visits
Domestic tourism remains concentrated in a handful of Rwanda’s national parks.
Akagera National Park received the largest number of Rwandan visitors in 2025, recording 32,932 domestic visits — 55.6 per cent of all domestic national park visits.
Nyungwe National Park followed with 18,515 Rwandan visitors, while Volcanoes National Park recorded 7,699.
Across the country’s four national parks, total visitation reached 155,394 in 2025, representing a 3.2 per cent increase.
Domestic visitation was a particularly strong component of that growth, while international visits remained broadly stable.
Growth, however, was uneven. Nyungwe recorded a 22.8 per cent increase in overall visitation, helped by the introduction of new attractions designed to broaden the park’s appeal.
The park launched a zipline and rope course in 2025. More than 6,000 visitors used the two attractions during their first six months, contributing to the increase in visitation.
From holidays to everyday experiences
RDB is attempting to change the way domestic tourism is perceived and consumed.
Rather than promoting tourism solely as a conventional holiday activity, the agency has increasingly linked travel to activities that Rwandans already participate in, including sports, wellness, cultural celebrations, family outings and community events.
The Tembera u Rwanda initiative is central to that strategy.
The campaign has been connected to events including the Kigali International Peace Marathon, Car Free Day, the Nyungwe Marathon and Umuganura, encouraging residents to explore destinations while participating in activities they already value.
During activities surrounding the Kigali International Peace Marathon in June, for example, influencers involved in the initiative shared experiences from Nyandungu Eco-Park and Fazenda Sengha.
Other campaigns have combined sports and wellness with visits to Nyungwe, while an Umuganura-linked activation promoted cultural heritage, nature and lakeside recreation through destinations including the King’s Palace Museum in Nyanza, Nyungwe and Nkombo Beach.
The strategy represents a shift in the marketing of domestic tourism — from asking people simply to take a holiday to presenting travel as an extension of everyday life.
A family weekend away, a cycling trip, a cultural event, a wellness retreat or an outdoor activity can all become gateways into domestic tourism.
Expanding beyond the big parks
RDB also believes Rwanda needs to diversify the experiences available to domestic tourists.
Beyond the country’s best-known national parks, the agency is promoting urban and lakeside recreation, cultural and heritage tourism, hiking, cycling, camping, food and creative experiences, sports, events and wellness retreats.
The objective is to give Rwandans more reasons to travel — and more affordable options from which to choose.
The expansion is already taking shape.
RDB is developing five new urban parks in Kigali, building on the Nyandungu Eco-Park model. A zipline and ropes course have been introduced in Nyungwe, while an eco-park is planned for Musanze.
The agency is also encouraging hotels and tour operators to develop competitive packages aimed at families and corporate groups.
For the industry, such packages could help overcome one of the major weaknesses in domestic tourism: the cost of assembling an entire trip.
Is tourism affordable?
The price of admission is only one component of the cost of travelling.
For a Rwandan family, transport, accommodation, meals and activities can quickly add to the cost of a trip, even when park entrance fees are discounted for citizens.
At Akagera National Park, the 2026 tariff lists an entrance fee of Rwf15,000 per person for one day for Rwandan/East African Community citizens. The park offers a 20 per cent group discount for groups of more than 20 Rwandan nationals.
In Nyungwe, Rwandan/EAC citizens pay Rwf10,000 per person for a one-night park entry, while activities such as chimpanzee tracking cost Rwf25,000 per person.
The park also offers annual passes, including a Rwandan/EAC family pass priced at Rwf205,000.
The figures illustrate the difference between the advertised price of an attraction and the actual cost of a family holiday. Once transport, food and additional activities are included, the financial calculation becomes more significant for households balancing tourism against other priorities.
Nshyimiyimana, however, believes Rwanda’s domestic pricing structure already provides meaningful concessions to citizens.
“When it comes to prices, there is fairness for Rwandans because they are given discounts wherever possible. Compared with what foreigners pay, you can see that there is a level of fairness in the pricing for Rwandans,” he said.
For him, the more fundamental challenge is persuading people that travel can offer value beyond entertainment.
Building a culture of travel
The growth in domestic visitation suggests that attitudes are changing, but the relatively small number of domestic park visits compared with Rwanda’s population shows how much room remains for expansion.
The opportunity for the tourism industry is therefore not simply to attract more visitors to existing attractions, but to cultivate a stronger culture of domestic travel.
That will require affordable packages, greater awareness, diverse experiences and tourism products that appeal to different age groups and income levels.
It will also require the industry to convince potential visitors that travelling within Rwanda does not have to mean an expensive, once-a-year safari.
For a younger generation already embracing travel and introducing their families to it, that cultural shift may already be underway.
The challenge now is to turn that emerging interest into a broader national habit — one in which Rwanda’s natural landscapes, cultural sites, cities and recreational spaces are experienced not only by international tourists, but by Rwandans themselves.