WORLD PROPERTY CHANNEL ®

(RWANDA, EAST-CENTRAL AFRICA) -- Supporting the densest population in continental Africa, the Republic of Rwanda is mounting a media campaign to draw attention to its lack of hotel rooms, lack of hotel facilities, lack of competent staff and generally lack of being anything but an international leisure destination.

But don't tell that to officials at the Rwanda Tourist Bureau. They are dead serious about growing its current crop of 3,552 rooms in 163 hotels to 6,000 rooms by 2012.

There is only one little problem - actually, a half dozen problems, according to AllAfrica Global Media, owned by Focus Media in Rwanda.

The publication interviewed Rosette Chantal Rugamba, the deputy CEO in charge of tourism and conservation at the Rwanda Tourist Bureau, and also talked to Joan Bella, a Ugandan working as an auditor in Rwanda.

Focus Media also carried out its own mini survey of the country's leisure industry:

Here is what AllAfrica Global Media and its parent, found:

• Of the country's 163 existing hotels, only 72 meet minimum international standards.

• Some of the hotels only have outside toilets.

• In the city of Kigali, most workers could not speak English.

• Only at the Kigali Serena Hotel and the Top-Tower Hotel in Kacyiru were the staffs conversant in English, French and local East African languages.

• At the Novotel Hotel, some of the workers understand English but mostly speak French.

• Many of the hotels surveyed simply offer poor service, taking an unacceptable amount of time to perform routine tasks.

And if those minuses aren't enough to turn off most English-speaking tourists, here is what could probably the biggest turnoff of all:  Only a few hotels accept payment with international credit cards such as Visa and MasterCard.

Still, maintains allAfrica.com, a subsidiary of AllAfrica Global Media, the growth in new hotel rooms is crucial at this time because "the number of tourists in Rwanda is booming, making tourism now the number one foreign exchange earner and supporting thousands of Rwandans through providing jobs."

The publication notes that in 2008, Rwanda attracted 980,577 visitors compared to 826,374 in 2007.  The country's treasury took in an estimated $209 million (U.S.) versus $138 million in 2007.

Some hoteliers, particularly in Remera, understand the tourist dollar value better than others and have started special in-house training sessions for all staffers.

According to the Rwanda Tourist Bureau, most of the country's visitors arrive specifically to see the mountain gorillas and the unique vegetation in the three national parks. 

The annual Kwita Izina event, scheduled this year for June 20, involves a gorilla naming ceremony.

"This has become Rwanda's premier tourism event that has attracted thousands of tourists, celebrities, international media and people from all walks of life," according to a prepared statement by the Rwanda Tourist Bureau.

This year, 11 baby gorillas will be give names.  Proceeds from the event will finance local community projects.  

Lonely Planet, an online travel guide publication, actually ranks Rwanda among the top 10 travel destinations on the planet.

There are 10.1 million residents in Rwanda, up from 8.1 million in the country's official 2002 census.  The Republic's 10,169 square miles is about the size of Massachusetts which boasts an area of 10,555 square miles, making it the seventh smallest state in the U.S.

---