The high-profile female tennis star, Maria Sharapova who is in Rwanda for tourism purposes, has met President Paul Kagame, an official source confirmed on Thursday, 14 November 2019.
The visit is part of the partnership dubbed ‘Visit Rwanda’, which the government of English Premiership club, Arsenal, entered into in May 2018, due to Sharapova’s close links with its fans, it said.
The Rwandan government is Arsenal’s sleeve sponsor and Official Tourism Partner.
In May 2018, Arsenal completed a three-year deal worth 39 million dollars with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), which will see them promote the country on their kits.
Estimates by Rwandan officials indicate that before the deal was signed, 71 percent of the millions of Arsenal fans worldwide did not consider Rwanda a tourist destination.
However, half of them considered Rwanda a destination to visit by the end of the first year of the partnership.
Official reports by RDB indicate that revenue from gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park increased by 25 percent in 2018 to 19.2 million dollars from the previous year. This was made through the sale of 15 132 gorilla permits during the equivalent time frame.
Prior to the increase of permit price and other initiatives focusing on promoting the country tourism sectors, 22 219 were sold, raking in 15 million dollars in revenue in 2019, reports said.
Sharapova became the world No. 1 for the first time on 22 August 2005, at the age of 18, becoming the first Russian female tennis player to top the singles rankings.
She last held the ranking for the fifth time for four weeks; 11 June 2012, to 8 July 2012.
Her 36 singles titles and five Grand Slam titles—two at the French Open and one each at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open—rank third among active players, behind Serena and Venus Williams.
– APA
