Hoteliers await guidance on Volcanoes park expansion

Hotels located within the area designed for Volcanoes National Park expansion have not yet received official communication about what will happen to them – whether they will remain there or must relocate – or how they will operate once the project has been implemented, it has emerged. 

ALSO READ: Inside $255m volcanoes park expansion project The uncertainty came to the fore during a consultative meeting between the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and tourism stakeholders on Wednesday, August 20, where hotelier Paul Muvunyi raised concerns about the implications of the park’s expansion on hospitality businesses. The hotels understood to be within or near the expansion boundaries include Bisate Lodge, Mountain Gorilla View Lodge, and Singita Kwitonda Lodge. Muvunyi, owner of Mountain Gorilla View Lodge, said part of his property falls within the proposed expansion area. He questioned how guests and staff would be treated if the lodge is technically inside the park. “We’ve only heard about it by word of mouth,” he told The New Times. “Will we be operating inside the park, alongside gorillas? Gorilla trekking permits cost $1,500 – what does that mean for guests going in and out? Will hotel staff also be expected to pay?” Manzi Kayihura, Executive Chairman of Wilderness Rwanda, which owns Bisate Lodge, echoed similar concerns, noting that RDB has not officially outlined the next steps. “We have to wait and see,” he said, warning that relocation would come at a “very high cost.” Responding to the concerns, RDB Chief Tourism Officer Irène Murerwa said the project does not intend to displace businesses. “We will not touch business entities. 

There are not many—no more than four or five,” she said. On whether hotel guests might be required to pay trekking fees since they would be inside the park, Murerwa dismissed the notion: “That will not be the case. Gorillas will not be coming into buildings. They are intelligent animals and know their habitat.” Why expand the park? The $255 million (about Rwf367 billion) expansion aims to boost conservation, biodiversity, and community resilience. A key priority is expanding habitat for the growing population of endangered mountain gorillas and other wildlife. The project will add more than 37 square kilometres (3,700 hectares) to the park by 2028. Mountain gorilla numbers in the Virunga Massif have risen from 880 in 2012 to over 1,063 today, largely thanks to conservation efforts and community partnerships. The Virunga Massif spans Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, DR Congo’s Virunga National Park, and Uganda’s Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Rwanda’s park has long faced challenges of limited and fragmented habitat, which the expansion is designed to address. 

Hotels in other parks Although lodges have not traditionally operated inside Volcanoes National Park itself, Rwanda’s other three national parks host notable hospitality facilities. Akagera Game Lodge, managed by the Mantis Collection, sits inside Akagera National Park and operates under strict entry rules, with gates closing at 6 PM. Nyungwe’s One&Only Nyungwe House and Gishwati Lodge in Gishwati-Mukura National Park also operate within protected areas under conservation guidelines. With Volcanoes National Park now set for significant expansion, hospitality investors in the region await clarity on whether they will share a similar model—or face relocation.