Elephants in Akagera National Park
The Akagera National Park has set new prices for game visits in 2021, with slight increase, discounts and retention of some prices that were set for this year.
In a statement released this week, the park said effective January 15 2021 new entry fees will see Rwandan or member of East African Community (EAC) pay US$16 (Rwf15,000) up from US$7.50 (Rwf6,500) per day or night.
A person spending two nights in the park will pay Rwf22, 500 and Rwf30, 000 entry fees for three nights, however offering discount on visitors who spends the second and the third night and no extra payments from the 4th until the 7th night.
The statement said that children with 13 years of age and above will pay adult rates for entry fees and activities, but those aged 5 and under will not pay any entry or activities fees.
For visitors with their own cars entering the park, their prices for cars have also been reduced.
A small car registered in Rwanda or EAC will be charged US$10 down from US$12 (Rwf10,000) while large vehicles carrying tourists will be charged US$20 down from US$24 (Rwf20.000) while prices for small and large cars out of EAC remained the same at US$40 and US$100.
Changes in Group Fees, Annual Passes
Usually, a group of over 20 Rwandans would get Rwf1500 discount per individual, thus paying Rwf5000 entry fees each.
However the new pricing list has extended the discount for adults and children and groups of Rwandan Nationals of more than 20 people automatically receive a group discount of Rwf2,000 and will be charged at Rwf12,000 per adult and Rwf8,000 per child.
As for annual passes, the price for an individual from Rwanda or EAC remained the same at Rwf95,000. The price has however been increased from Rwf 115,000 to Rwf 150,000 for two persons and Rwf150,000 to Rwf205,000 for a family.
Annual passes for foreigners living in Rwanda or EAC has increased to US$300 from US$250. The price has been fixed at US$500 from US$400 for two people and US$700 from US$600 for a family.
There will be no further charges for already booked passes.
The revised prices do not concern accommodation fees at Ruzizi Tented Lodge and Karenge Bush Camp which remained at US$25 and US$40 respectively for half and whole day.
Akagera National Park is home to the Big Five game animals including Lions, Rhinos, Elephant, Buffalo and Leopard and also endowed with the presence of over 482 bird species, among various wild and aquatic animals.
This has seen its annual visits figures increased from 15,000 visits in 2010 to over 50,000 visits in 2019.
The management of the park recently informed partners that the park sometimes would record higher visits beyond its capacity in the last four months of the year which posed risks to the park and visitors.
“One of strategies to reduce the high rate of visits and related consequences to the park without affecting revenues to preserve the park is the revision of prices,” the Park said partly in the statement. The new policy intends to mobilize visitors to spend long time. We have witnessed this especially during this period of recovering domestic tourism and needs reinforcement.”
