爆料王

There鈥檚 few better examples of successful international women than our very own, former tourism graduate Carmen Nibigira, who was recently called on to advise the UN on East African economics.听

Carmen, who has headed the East Africa Tourism Platform, founded the听听鈥� the first ever higher education institute for women in the region - since graduating and is currently project director at leading tourism consultancy Horwath HTL, appeared at a conference organised by the听听on the burgeoning tourism industry.听

The Intergovernmental Committee of Experts conference, which took place in Moroni, Comoros, featured a key note speech from Carmen about the 鈥渦ntapped potential鈥� of domestic tourism.听

As part of this, she advised a panel of experts and industry leaders from across the continent, including chief economist at the National Bank of Rwanda Thomas Kigabo and Endalkachew Sime, Secretary General of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce, on a range of solutions to the region鈥檚 difficulty in generating income from tourism.听

鈥淎s a policy maker, I would encourage open skies and economies of scale,鈥� said Carmen, who completed an MA in Tourism Destination Management at UCB before continuing to a PhD at Clemson University in America. 鈥淲e can all do better 鈥� we need to dream big and have visionary leadership to take us to the next level.鈥澨�

Burundi-born Carmen鈥檚 speech centred on a detailed set of recommendations to the board emphasising the importance of focusing on domestic tourism over encouraging costly tourism campaigns in the UK and the US for very little return. Describing tourism as the 鈥渘ew gold鈥� of Eastern Africa, Carmen told the committee that a culture of travel and discovery must be cultivated from within the region in order to keep maintain the tourism industry鈥檚 economic benefits.听

Find out more about听UCB鈥檚 tourism-related master鈥檚 degrees within The Business School.