March 28, 2023 - Two countries devoured by war a generation ago. Learning from excellence is an inspiring thing - 5 things Rwanda does better than Croatia. 

It is a strange thing, being an expat. Or an immigrant, as some people prefer me labelled. A country you live in becomes a part of you, will never leave you. 

And after over 20 years in Croatia, I have never lived longer anywhere else. And I am very happy here. 

But there is one other country I lived in for almost a year that refuses to leave me. 

Rwanda.

1994 in Rwanda was among the biggest hellholes of the 20th century. Arriving just a week after a genocide which killed 800,000 people in 100 days (almost 12% of the population) is an experience I wiill never forget. Nor those intense months afterwards, working 20 hours a day to provide food security for the survivors to start again. Rwanda - much like Dalmatia - is my blood, but for very different reasons. She made me cry as a 53-year-old when I finally went for my first counselling at the tender age of 53 last year. 

I have followed the journey of that tortured Central African countries for the last 30 years, a journey of dictatorial democracy, reconciliation, and tentative steps of hope for the future.

It is a country that I have allocated more than my fair share of my emotional well-being to over the years, as well as my tears. I will never forget the face of my 4-year-old daughter on April 6, 2014 - the 20th anniversary of the genocide. 

It was 6 am on the idyllic island of Hvar when my youngest woke and came to say hi to her blogger father on the couch, who was in tears. A combination of memories and this excellent article in the New York Times, called Portraits of Reconciliation. 

"What's wrong, Daddy?" asked the confused child, who had never seen a grown man - let alone her father - cry.

"Nothing," I answered, holding her tighter than I have ever held a human in my life.

"It was just something bad that happened in Africa a long, long time ago." And then I strengthened my grip.

Comparison is the thief of joy, and no two countries are alike. It would also be wrong to claim that 'democratic' Rwanda is a true democracy, as the experiences of my Rwandese friends will testify. And yet...

One of the poorest countries in the world, which lost an eighth of its population in 100 days, the latest - but certainly not the first - genocide. Some 30 years later, it has emeged a lot brighter than many might have predicted. And when I look at my adopted homeland of Croatia, I see parallels, and I see lessons to be learned. Here are 5 things that I think Rwanda is doing better than Croatia - all of which would be very welcome for Croatia to emulate - which it can. 

1. A ban on plastic bags in the whole country since 2009

I have lost count of the number of articles I have read - and written - about hotels which are proving their environmental credentials by banning the use of things such as plastic straws. Rwanda banned plastic bags in the whole country back in 2009. The whole country, enforced with fines and even the threat of imprisonment. 

2. Emergency blood delivered by drone within 30 minutes all over the country

Medical emergency? How to get that emergency blood? For more than 6 years now in Rwanda, a doctor names his requirements, and within 90 seconds, a drone is on its way with a life-saving package - ETA maximum 30 minutes.  

3. Reconciliation

As a Brit, with no experience of civil war in my country, it is hard for me to comment with authority on the effects of civil war. Having lived in both Rwanda and Croatia, however, I can see the healthier way forward - reconciliation. And while my 7-year-old child got her first nightmare with her homework in school (Read more in Is it Really Necessary to Poison the Minds of the Next Generation?), the comprehensive rehabilitation process performed in Rwanda has gone a long way towards healing. No longer Tutsis and Hutus, we are all Rwandan now. 

Contrast that with the ongoing torment of Vukovar, a city not reconquered, but handed back, where schools are still divided, those who perpetrated horrific crimes encounter their victims on a daily basis, and where politicians stoke the hatred for politcal gain a generation on. 

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4. Tourism

The land of 1000 islands had been usurped by the land of 1000 hills. On the face of it, Rwanda doesn't have that much going for it regarding tourism, apart from a few mountain gorillas, but man, have they done an amazing job with what they have. So much so that in 2019, Bloomberg named Rwanda as one of the top 10 destinations in the world for billionaires. And they had plenty more to say on the subject in How Rwanda Became the Unlikeliest Tourism Destination in Africa. And not just Bloomberg, here is the Robb Report - Rwanda Is Building a Low-Footprint, Luxury Tourism Industry From Scratch—and Succeeding.

An intresting strategy - building a tourism industry rather than just waiting for tourists to arrive as in Croatia...

5. Tourism Promotion

And perhaps my favourite of the five - tourism promotion. In 2018 Croatia was one of the most-searched countries on the planet, its players and fans adored all over the world for their World Cup heroics in Russia. If ever any country had the moral high ground to claim to be the tiny country that dared to dream, and to cash in commercially on that footballing success, it was Croatia.

And yet, with the Kings of Accidental Tourism congratulated themselves on a job well done (not by them, but by others, as usual), tiny Rwanda, a country that had never been to the World Cup, never had a player in the Premier League, stole the show with a sponsorship deal with Arsenal - the first sponsorship deal between a tourism country and a Premier League team - which saw Visit Rwanda seen on Arsenal shirts around the world 35 million times a day. You can read more in my article a few years ago in Lessons from Rwanda: Promoting Tourism Through Football, African-Style.

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April 9, 2019 - Football captures the attention all over the world. Meet an innovative tourism partnership from the Premier League and a rising African luxury destination - Rwanda.

April 6 is always a very emotional date for me, for it was on that date in 1994 that a plane was shot down in Central Africa, killing two presidents on board. What followed was the quickest genocide in history, in Rwanda, an impoverished country which lost over 10% of its population, as 800,000 people were slaughtered in 100 days. 

(Life for this correspondent before TCN) 

I arrived a couple of weeks after the madness had finished, working in Rwanda for 9 months as an aid worker, on programmes to feed the traumatised survivors and supply them with the seeds and tools so that they could start to rebuild their livelihoods. 

It was without doubt the most challenging and rewarding thing I have ever done, as well as the biggest head f*ck. It also changed me, for the better.  

This year's April 6 found me starting the day in luxury at Lustica Bay in Montenegro, with a 9-hour drive to Zagreb ahead of us. 

I told Marko, my sales director, as we drove past Kotor along the Bay of Kotor, that I might be a little emotional on the drive, for this was not only the day, but 25 years since the madness started. 

"Visit Rwanda," he replied. "You see it all over the Premiership, especially at Arsenal."

How strange, I thought, and we discussed it a little. When we got home, I googled a little and saw image after image of Arsenal promoting tourism in Rwanda.  

My little Rwanda, a nation traumatised, has been transformed in the last 25 years. So much so, in fact, that it recently was named by Business Insider (after research with a luxury tourism operator) in the top 15 countries billionaires want to visit in 2019. As we reported recently, Montenegro also made the list, but there was no Croatia. 

It turns out that Montenegro and Rwanda have other things in common, such as the One&Only hotel brand. Already established in Rwanda, One&Only is set to open its first hotel in Europe next year, just 30km from Dubrovnik Airport, in Montenegro. I digress. 

Rwanda is a tiny country which has chosen a path to go after quality tourism, relying on quality not quantity. It has not only protected its iconic mountain gorillas, but provided the environment where they have thrived and expanded to almost 500, having been on the verge of extinction until very recently. Permits to view are high ($1,500 per person), but they apparently sell 96 permits on average daily, which alone covers the rumoured £30 million they paid Arsenal for the partnership. From the official website:

Visit Rwanda is Arsenal Football Club’s official Tourism Partner and its first shirt sleeve partner. The Visit Rwanda logo features on the left sleeve of all AFC teams for the duration of the exciting, three-year partnership.

The Arsenal shirt is seen 35 million times a day globally and AFC is one of the most watched teams around the world, enabling Visit Rwanda to be seen in football-loving nations around the world and helping its drive to be an even more successful tourism and investment destination.

Arsenal’s Chief Commercial Officer, Vinai Venkatesham, said: “This is an exciting partnership which will see us support Rwanda’s ambition to build their tourism industry. The country has been transformed in recent years and Arsenal’s huge following will bring Rwanda into people’s minds in a new and dynamic way.”

Rwanda is ranked as the second easiest place to do business in Africa by the World Bank and has been awarded for its leadership in tourism and economic competitiveness by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and the World Economic Forum respectively.

Rwanda Development Board Chief Executive Officer, Clare Akamanzi said: “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Arsenal and showcasing the vibrancy and beauty of our country. Rwanda is a country pulsing with energy, creativity and innovation.

“Visit Rwanda and discover why we are the second fastest growing economy in Africa. Investors in Rwanda are able to register their businesses in only six hours and prepare to enjoy the opportunities accrued from the free trade agreements that we’ve signed with over 50 countries.

As part of the partnership, Arsenal players from the men’s and women’s teams will visit Rwanda and club coaches will host coaching camps to support the development of the game for boys and girls in the country.

‘Visit Rwanda’ will gain global exposure through branding on matchday LED boards at the Emirates Stadium, all the interview backdrops and a broad range of other marketing rights.

Rwanda has never been to the World Cup.

It has no players at Real Madrid or Barcelona. None has ever played in the Premier League. In fact, it appears that only about 20 have ever played professionally outside the country.

A few months ago, reflecting on the HUGE interest in Croatia caused by the World Cup - both success on the pitch, the amazing fans, and THOSE shirts, I suggested that Croatia should brand tourism and football together. As Rwanda has now done so, perhaps I got the idea in that football crazy country while handing out bags of beans all those years ago. 

The deal has not been without controversy, with some questioning how countries like the UK are sending aid to Rwanda, only to see millions being pumped into a London Premier League side. The justification is that those budgets are from totally different sources, and the gorilla permits alone more than fund the reputed investment of £30 million An investment which could pay back very handsomely indeed, according to a report in The Guardian:

The deal is already getting people thinking about the impoverished country’s tourism industry, which offers lakeside resorts and walks with mountain gorillas – with one expert estimating that the £30m investment could help to bring in £300m of new revenue.

“Rwanda wouldn’t have occurred to me as a place for tourism, so perhaps you do need to shock people,” said Kelvyn Gardner, the head of international development at the Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association. “What you’re buying with sponsorship it’s brand recognition. Football shirts can be over monopolised by things like online gaming companies, so it will stand out.”

Time will tell if the money will have been well spent, but how refreshing and innovative to see a small African country take the initiative to break new ground in such a global product as football. 

And how even more refreshing to see this beautiful yet impoverished country rise from the ashes of the devastation of 25 years ago, and emerge as a Central African superstar, with some rather surprising accolades - in the top 15 places for billionaires to visit in 2019; the 9th safest country in the world the most women MPs in the world, and the second fastest growing economy in Africa. Chances are that Arsenal will help to increase that pace of growth. 

Congratulations, Rwanda, on how far you have come. Now it is time for you all to Visit Rwanda - check out the official website.

As the Australian Financial Review writes about new hotels for the luxury One&Only brand in Montenegro, Greece, Mexico and Rwanda on March 12, 2018, why are the big luxury hotel names so absent in the tourist hotspot of Croatia?