Burundi is banking on local tourism to restart the sector that has experienced a downturn following travel restrictions that saw tourists keep off.

This comes as latest figures shows that the country only received 553,389 visitors in 2020, down from 2.6 million the previous year, data from Burundi Tourism office showed.

This week, President Evariste Ndayishimiye started a domestic tourism circuit to promote tourism in the country.

Tourism in Burundi is among the sectors that were severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Burundi closed its airspace and borders in efforts to contain the spread of the virus that led to a sharp decline of tourists in an already struggling sector.

It, however, did not impose a total lockdown even as the coronavirus cases surged.The promotion of domestic tourism is a good way to boost national pride. This tour is also a patriotic approach while it helps in transmission of knowledge and cultural values, President Ndayishimiye said during his three-day country tour.

Accompanied by his family, he visited the Karera water falls in Rutana and several sites in Gitega, the countrys capital and historically known to have been home to the King.

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