Kigali, though just 40 minutes by plane, felt like a world away from Kampala. There was a sense of calm and orderliness in Kigali that came as a surprise and a slight shock to the system after the hustle and bustle of Kampala. Like its neighbour, Kigali is built on a series of gently rolling hills and is lush, green and tropical. As it’s at a higher altitude than Kampala it is also slightly cooler.

Driving through to our hotel we saw some interesting sites. There were the ‘Boda Boda’s (motor bike taxis) who all wore helmets and also had a spare helmet for each of their passengers. People in Kigali drive on the right hand side of the road, which was a little unnerving for us anglophiles, but you soon get used to it.

Kigali is a mix of contradictions; there was Internet access nearly everywhere. It was great to see the conference group in the supermarket hanging out and later at play – Kigali is definitely ‘geek friendly’.

The seminars were held at the Rwanda Tourism College. Delegates were mainly a mix of students of the college, tour operators and hoteliers. Though a little less boisterous than the Ugandan delegates, there was an appreciation for the role that digital plays in marketing the country. One of the delegates from Rwanda Tourism shared the work he was doing to develop their current website with the group. The team were collaborative, shared ideas and expressed some of the challenges they have.
 
Though connectedness is not as big an issue as in Uganda, my very own straw poll showed that access is not the only constraint.

• About 60% of the room used Internet explorer
• Only 2 people had installed any analytics on their websites
• No one had ever run a paid search campaign

Interestingly a few delegates stayed behind to ask about eCommerce. With the banking structure the way it is they have to look to Paypal in order to offer eCommerce to their oversees customers.

After the seminars one of the lectures asked me to stay behind and speak to a group of BBIT (Bachelor of Business Admin and IT) students. An interesting lot – they understood the technology but were surprised when I explained the economics behind paid search to them and demonstrated the competitiveness of search in the UK for insurance. A long day ended with a cup of African Tea with the lecturers in the cafeteria.

Also see:

• Tweeting E-Toursim Africa
• An Update from E-Tourism Africa
• Friday Fact Box - Online Tourism
• Tourism Begins Online