The Kenya Tourism Federation has contracted Strathmore University’s Centre for Tourism and Hospitality to conduct a regional survey on the level of awareness and usage of the Single Tourist Visa.

KAMPALA: The single tourist visa was adopted by East African Community member states – Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda – in February last year, but take up by foreign visitors has been slow despite it being cheaper, according to industry players.

The baseline survey will also find out the level of awareness on use of national IDs for cross-border travel by citizens of the three states

Joe Wadawi of the Strathmore Centre for Tourism and Hospitality said the audit will identify gaps which if addressed would provide further opportunities for operators and government agencies.

KTF reported that only 1,560 single tourist visas had been sold as at December 11 despite hundreds of thousands of in-bound tourists to the region in 2014.

It is also cheaper at a one-off fee of $100 compared to paying $50 in each country, which would amount to $150 if a foreign visitor tours three countries.

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