Contribution of Local Communities to the Development of Community-Based Tourism in Rwanda. A Case of Kitabi Cultural Village

In Rwanda, Community-Based Tourism still lags behind compared to other forms of tourism, such as MICE and gorilla tourism. As a form of tourism whose majority of beneficiaries are local communities, there is a need to know how these communities contribute to CBT development. The research conducted at Kitabi Cultural Village by means of a questionnaire and interview given to 77 respondents indicated that at Kitabi Cultural Village, tourists do different activities, including village tours, tasting local foods and drinks, guided nature hikes, handicrafting, and listening to traditional Rwandan stories. Through CBT, the communities of Kitabi Village get more benefits, including jobs, money, friends, cultural promotion, and becoming civilised. For CBT development in the Kitabi community, RDB uses different strategies like CBT awareness, infrastructure development, supporting locals’ projects, and marketing. So, it was concluded that well-prepared local communities contribute to the development of CBT, especially when the governments intervene in such development. Therefore, to develop CBT at the maximum level, RDB, MYCULTURE, local authorities, and local communities were recommended to have a clear understanding of CBT, to invest more in CBT projects and promote them, and to conduct more research on CBT opportunities as well.