Frequently Asked Questions

1. What services can one access on this platform?

Currently available services:

Applying for a tourism operating license

A database of all licensed and graded entities

Other services that will be available soon:

Requesting inspections and grading assessments

Submitting reports to RDB

Submitting applications to invest in protected areas (i.e concession applications)

2. What is a tourism entity?

It is a tourism business enterprise which consists of a restaurant, bar, night club, accommodation establishment, tour operator, travel agent, tour guide, tourism information office, cultural tourism recognized by the Institute of National Museums of Rwanda and any other entity as may be determined by an Order of the Minister;

3. Who can apply for a tourism operating license?

Owners or operators of the entities in the below categories can apply for a tourism operating license:

A: Accommodation establishments (town hotels, vacation hotels, motels, lodges, tented camps, serviced apartments, cottages and villas)

B: Restaurants, bars and nightclubs

C: Tour operators, tour guide and travel agents

D: Tourism information centers

E: museum and Cultural tourism

4. When can one access the service?

Tourism entities selected to participate in the pilot will start submitting license applications in November 2016. Once the pilot is completed, other tourism entities will start submitting their license applications. An official call from RDB will be issued in this regard. Tourism entities will be required to apply for the tourism license in phases.

5. What departments can one approach if they have a query?

The customer care and regulatory division in the Tourism department of RDB

6. Why inspections?

Before granting a tourism license, the Board will conduct an inspection at the premises of the tourism entity to investigate that the entity meets the minimum requirements of operating in the tourism industry. After granting a tourism operating license, the Board shall conduct regular inspections to investigate a potential violation of the provisions of this Law. Although a tourism license has no expiration date, it can be suspended or canceled when a violation of the provisions of the tourism law is identified. When the Board wishes to inspect a tourism entity, it will designate an officer to conduct inspections. The tourism entity will be notified ahead of a licensing inspection and regular inspections, but not before ad-hoc inspections. If an entity does not pass its initial inspections and needs to be re-inspected, it may incur a fee.

7. Once an application is submitted, how long does it take to get a response?

RDB shall process a complete license application within 15 days. However, a notification will be sent if there are some missing documents in an application or if a tourism entity has to make some corrections to issues identified during the inspection process.

8. What are the standards for tourism entities grading?

Accommodation entities and restaurants are graded according to the EAC grading standards. These standards can be found under the “resources” tab of this page.

9. What required documents does an applicant need to submit when applying for a tourism operating license?

	Required documents	Town hotels, vacation hotels, villas, serviced apartments, cottages and motels	Lodges and tented camps	Restaurants, bars and night clubs	Tour operators	Tour guides	Travel agents	Tourism information center
1	Occupational permit	X	X	X
2	Company registration certificate	X	X	X	X		X	X
	Tour Identification document					X
3	Vermin proof contract	X	X	X
4	Three months' record of WASAC water supply invoices specifying water consumption, with proof of payment	X	X	X
5	Electrical safety certificate from RURA	X	X	X
6	Valid fire insurance contract	X	X	X
7	Valid fire safety certificate for establishment, issued by police	X	X	X
8	Valid fire safety certificates for staff, issued by police	X	X	X
9	Valid first aid certificate for all kitchen, housekeeping and reception staff	X	X
10	Organization chart with full names and titles of employees	X	X	X	X
11	CVs, degrees and diplomas of all management staff demonstrating tourism management qualifications/experience	X	X	X	X		X	X
12	CVs, degrees and diplomas of all department heads demonstrating tourism management qualifications/experience	X	X	X
	CVs, degrees and diplomas of all non-management staff demonstrating relevant education and experience				X		X	X
	CVs, degrees and diplomas demonstrating at least 2 years of experience working in the tourism and hospitality industry					X
13	Health/medical examination certificates of all kitchen, housekeeping and other customer-facing staff, valid within three months	X	X	X		X
14	Property and liability insurance	X
15	Letter of membership in a hospitality or tours and travel association	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
16	'Safe food handling certificate for all kitchen staff issued by Board-recognized institution/company/trainer	X		X
17	'Policy manual specifying that children under 18 must be accompanied by parents and that alcohol will not be served to children under 18	X	X	X
18	Valid EIA Report/Audits		X
19	Emergency evacuation plan		X
20	Lodge camp liability insurance		X
21	Menu			X
	Restaurant Liability Insurance			X
22	Certificate demonstrating fluency in Kinyarwanda, English, French and Kiswahili					X
23	Driver's licenses of all tour guides (Category B)				X
24	Ministry of Justice certificate of good conduct, valid within one year					X
25	Vehicle registration of road-worthy 4-wheel-drive vehicle (with a valid Carte Jaune and Controle Technique)				X
26	Valid subscription to an emergency evacuation scheme involving helicopter rescue and evacuation				X
27	Relevant set of tourism information available including material about tourism attractions, accommodation entities, tour operators.							X

10. What is the application procedure?

A person seeking a license to operate will submit an online application to RDB and pay an application fee of 80,000 Rwf

RDB will review the application, and if the application is complete, an inspection will be scheduled

An authorized RDB inspector will conduct inspection at the tourism entity's premises, and if the entity passes inspection, it will be granted its license

If there are issues identified during inspection, the tourism entity will be asked to fix those issues before it can be granted a license. In this case, the tourism entity will be subject to re-inspection.

11. What are the other institutions I need to visit when applying for a license? (Eg. for payment of service costs or to get additional documents)

You need to visit:

RDB to get a business registration certificate

City of Kigali or district offices to get an Occupational Permit

Authorized Hospitals to get Medical/Health certificates of all customer facing staff members

Recognized hospitality or tours and travel association to get Letter of membership

RURA for an electrical safety certificate

National Police to get fire safety certificates for your establishment and your staff members

RDB to get a valid EIA report/audit

Insurance company to get fire and liability insurance

Accredited training institutions to get certificates of safe food handling

12. Is there a procedure to appeal if I am not happy with a decision from the Board?

Entity aggrieved by a Board decision can appeal within 30 days of receiving the notification of a Board's decision

Appeal Committee, composed of a representative of RDB, MINICOM and two representatives of the private sector will evaluate and decide an outcome within 30 days of receiving the appeal

An appellant will be invited to attend the appeal hearing

13. Is there a refund procedure? If Yes how is a refund processed?

The license application fee is non-refundable

14. Is there any additional information regarding this service that is useful to know?

All tourism entities are required to have a tourism license to operate

Licensed entities are subject to regular and ad-hoc inspections

While tour operators, guides and travel agents will not be subject to grading, hotels and restaurants will be graded every two years

A list of licensed and graded entities will be published annually on RDB's website

15. What other relevant documents do I need to consult?

Tourism law published in July 2014

Ministerial orders: - Licensing, Grading

EAC grading standards

Definitions of different types of tourism entities

Inspection checklists

All these documents can be found under the "resources" tab of this page.

16. What is the consequence for operating a tourism entity without valid license?

All tourism entities need to obtain a tourism license to operate in the tourism industry. Operating without a tourism license is a violation of the tourism law, and shall be punished according to the law

17. For how long will a tourism operating license be valid?

A tourism operating license does not expire, but an entity must pass annual inspections to maintain its license

RDB may suspend/cancel a license if an entity is found to be operating below minimum standards or in violation of the Tourism Law

18. What are the grounds for suspending/ cancelling a license?

The Board may cancel an operating license if an entity: 1 fails to comply with the provisions of the tourism Law and the terms and conditions of his/her operating license; 2 seriously jeopardizes environment, health or public safety. In case the Board considers cancelling an operating license, it shall notify in writing the tourism entity at least sixty (60) days before cancellation of the license. However, in case a tourism entity holding an operating license seriously jeopardizes environment, health or public safety, the Board may immediately withdraw the license from the tourism entity without notice.

19. Are they any fines or deadline for compliance with the tourism law?

Without prejudice to the panel code any persons who contravenes the provisions of this law shall be liable to an administrative fine of 100,000Frw - 5,000,000Frw

20. Is there an application fee for the tourism operating license?

Yes, tourism entities must pay an application fee of RWF 80,000. An application is considered incomplete until the applicant has paid the application fee.

21. How do I pay for a tourism operating licence fee?

To submit a tourism operating license application, an applicant is required to pay a non-refundable application fee of RWF 80,000.

Once the applicant has submitted all information and supporting documents, he/she must pay the application fee using any of the following options.

Direct deposit to RDB's Bank of Kigali bank account 00281460-96 RWF
Secure online payment by debit/credit card via Irembo

The applicant then scans and submits proof of payment as the final step in his/her application.

After submitting his/her application, the applicant can expect to turn over the original payment slip to RDB officials during on-site inspection.

A tourism entity that has submitted a complete application, paid the one-time application fee, and successfully passed inspection can be issued a tourism operating license.