Kigali moved four slots from ninth in the World's Best Awards 2024, behind Morocco's Marrakesh, Cape Town, Jerusalem, and Dubai respectively. The awards are organized by Travel + Leisure, a travel magazine based in New York City.
The annual award program considers traveller experiences to rank the top cities around the globe. The parameters used to rate the cities include sights/landmarks, culture, food, friendliness, shopping, and value.
In the 2024 edition of the awards, voters described Kigali as a beautiful hub, very organized with friendly and helpful residents.
'Amazingly clean and progressive city! I felt safe walking all over,' wrote a voter. 'There is a wide variety of cuisine available and amazing coffee.'
The list was dominated by countries from North Africa, led by Morocco and Egypt. Fez in Morocco took the sixth position, with one respondent said to have described the city as 'a treasure trove of culture and history! A must-see if you are in Morocco.'
The much smaller city of Essaouira still in Morocco was ranked number seven, marking its first reappearance on the list since 2021. Tel Aviv in Israel secured the eighth position, followed by Luxor and Cairo of Egypt.
Kigali first featured on the list in 2021 as Rwanda continued to position itself as a premier destination for tourism and high-profile conferences.
In 2023, when Kigali was ranked ninth, the Tourism sector recorded an impressive growth to record $650 million (RWF 832 billion) in revenues. This represented a 35 percent increase in revenue compared to 2022, according to the Rwanda Development Board.
Rwanda welcomed 25,927 gorilla visitors in 2023, marking a 29.4 percent increase recorded in 2022. This is the highest number of visitors received in the country's history.
The city has also featured in several other high profile rankings including last year when it was recognized as Africa's premier smart city. Thirty cities participated in the assessment, according to the 2023 African Smart City Index.
In May, the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) revealed that Rwanda was named the second most popular destination for international business conferences in Africa for the year 2023.
ICCA's 'Country and City Rankings for 2023' placed Rwanda behind South Africa, which hosted 98 international events compared to Kigali's 32 events.
Kenya came in third with 29 international events, followed by Egypt and Morocco, which hosted 28 and 26 international conferences and meetings, respectively.
ICCA has its headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands and is the global community and knowledge hub for international association meetings industry, offering data, education, communication channels, as well as business development and networking opportunities.
Wycliffe Nyamasege
Source : https://en.igihe.com/lifestyle/article/kigali-ranked-among-top-five-favorite-tourist-destinations
