SINGLE TOURIST VISA A CONCERN

The Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC) Dr Richard Sezibera has said the secretariat will work very hard to make sure the single tourist visa is completed this year.

When the tourist single visa has been issued, international tourists will enter all member countries and this will improve regional tourism.

Dr Sezibera said the use of national identity cards, a single tourist visa and the internationalization of the East African passport for movement within the member countries and liberalization and domestication of EAC airspace will be introduced this year.

The head of Tourism and Conservation at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Rica Rwigamba, said Rwanda has already completed the EAC single tourist visa because their aim is to widen the market.

The EAC Sectoral Council on Tourism and Wildlife Management has told the member states that have not yet completed the system to hurry up because the process has taken long.

Sezibera said the introduction of transport laws, the construction of the One Stop Border Posts and other integrative infrastructure and the completion of the agreement on harmonized axe load is expected to reduce on the cost of doing business in the area to benefit East Africans.