The Canopy Walk is one of the attractions many visitors and locals seen for from Nyungwe Forest National Park in southwestern Rwanda
Holidays and visits to friends and relatives remained the biggest sources of foreign travel earnings for Rwanda in the second quarter of 2026, together generating more than $100 million.
According to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR)’s Travel Expenditure Survey Report, 2026 Semester 1, foreign visitors spent $161.8 million in Rwanda during the quarter. Of this, $57.6 million, or 36.9%, came from holiday travel, while $45.5 million, or 28.1%, came from people visiting friends and relatives.
Business travel generated another $40.2 million, or 24.9%.
Together, holidays and family visits accounted for nearly 64% of Rwanda’s travel earnings, showing that tourism and personal connections remain central to the country’s ability to attract foreign exchange.
Gorillas dominate holiday earnings
The most striking finding is the weight of gorilla tourism.
The report says 79.4% of holiday travel earnings were linked to gorilla tourism. Based on the $57.6 million holiday total, that represents roughly $45.7 million.
This demonstrates the extraordinary economic value of Rwanda’s gorilla tourism, but also exposes a concentration risk. A large share of high-value leisure earnings is connected to a single tourism product.
Diversifying the country’s tourism offer could therefore become increasingly important if Rwanda wants to reduce its dependence on gorilla tourism.
Air visitors bring much more money
The figures also show why visitor numbers alone can be misleading.
Rwanda recorded about 220,800 non-resident arrivals by land, compared with about 94,300 by air in the quarter.
Yet air visitors generated $135.4 million, against only $26.4 million from land visitors.
In other words, Rwanda received more than twice as many visitors by land, but air travellers generated more than five times the revenue.
North American visitors were the biggest source of air travel earnings at $40.2 million, followed by Europe at $27.7 million.
This suggests that Rwanda’s economic priority is not simply attracting more visitors, but attracting more high-value visitors.
Business travel is rising
Business travel is also becoming increasingly important. Its contribution jumped from $22.7 million in Q1 to $40.2 million in Q2, an increase of about 77%.
At the same time, Rwandans spent $99.7 million abroad. Business accounted for almost half of this, at $49 million, followed by family visits at $20.5 million and education at $18.9 million.
Rwanda therefore maintained a $62.1 million travel surplus in Q2: foreigners spent considerably more in Rwanda than Rwandans spent abroad.
But the data also show a trend worth watching. Outbound spending has been rising steadily, while travel earnings fluctuate considerably from quarter to quarter.
The message from the latest figures is clear: holidays remain Rwanda’s biggest travel export, family visits are a surprisingly large source of foreign exchange, and business travel is rapidly becoming an important part of the country’s travel economy.
