Starting this month, the entrance fees and the service charges at all the Rwandan museums will be increased as a means of helping museums generate more income and also improve service delivery. This will also help in improving the tourism sector with in the country. Even though entrance fees for Rwanda remained at only rwf 1000, tat of the citizens from the east African community and the economic community of the great Lakes countries will also increase to Rwfs 3000 for the adults.
However , besides the change in the entrance fees, more new packages will be introduced were by a group of 20 people will pay each Rwf300 while the citizens of East African Community and CEPGL in a similar group will also be charged Rwf 500. The nonresidents in the group will also pay Rwf2000; this is according to the officials of the institute of National Museums of Rwanda. This increment as also been influenced by the introduction of new products in most museums. This will also help in increasing the number of tourists who come for safaris to Rwanda.
Since there are new objects, images and the exhibitions in most of the museums, there is also need for money to maintain them. The best example is at the Ethnographic Museum in Huye, one is able to view the pre-colonial evolution technology which is an important aspect in our history. At this museum, one can also get to see the 100 types of spears that existed in Rwanda. These spears are historical and have attracted many tourists to travel to Rwanda.in addition, there is the Ethnographic Museum, the king’s palace Mueum-Rakari , and the Presidential Palace Museum-Kanombe/Kigali brings in more revenue than the other museums.
These museums fetch an estimated Rwf30 million, however for the months of December and January, there were few people visiting the museums. And the national liberation Museum Park which is the most recent museum has also attracted many tourists who come to Rwanda. Cultural tourism is one of the initiative sthat have been to diversify the country from gorilla tourism the main attraction that brings tourists taking safaris in Rwanda and today many tourists take cultural and heritage tours within the country.
The other services charged on the museums also include photographs and videos as well as hiring gardens and the prices vary depending on the museum. More so, Museums in Rwanda offer diverse products so an increase of the entrance fees will not affect tourists. With the need to promote the tourism sector and the economy, the charges are worth it.