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By Clementine Nyirangaruye
Kigali City Tour (KCT) and QA Venue Solutions Rwanda have launched a new service known as “BK Arena guided tours” which has started from Friday, May 5, 2023 and will provide an immersive and memorable experience to visitors through daily guided tours within the BK Arena complex.
BK Arena is a state –of-the-art indoor arena located in Kigali, Rwanda. Since it’s inauguration in 2019, the arena has hosted numerous national and international events, including Basket Ball, Volley Ball, martial arts tournaments, concerts, conferences and so many more. As the biggest indoor arena in East Africa, the arena has quickly become a hub for sports and entertainment on the continent.
BK Arena Guided Tours is one search service that has been designed to offer visitors an immersive and memorable experience. The guided tours will be conducted by Kigali City Tour in close collaboration with Ikaze Rwanda & Travel. Visitors will be taken to various sites within the venue, some of which are not usually accessible by the general public. They will be informed about the venue’s operations and future plans while experiencing the arena’s grandeur.
BK Arena Venue Manager, Aaron Gaga said that the services come as an addition to marketing the arena which is a significant entertainment and sporting hub hosting over 200 events annually.
“The arena has a lot of places to visit here and learn from which have not been open to the public. For instance, the guided tours will be a special treat for visitors to explore and know the history, services, and other facilities or seats where leaders have sat beside basketball games which many know of,” Gaga said.
The new tourism product will give visitors an opportunity to tour various sites such as the Concourses, Lockers and Changing rooms, Arena Bowl, CIP space, VIP Suites, E-gaming Center and the Made in Rwanda store. It is an ideal opportunity to showcase Rwanda as a growing MICE, Sports and Entertainment hub.
David Ndiwalana, the Acting Managing Director of Kigali City Tour said that the new service is an added value on their city tour catalog which will improve services offered to local and foreign visitors.
“We are very hopeful that this service and partnership will bring in more visitors and offer a variety of options on top of what we have been offering,” Ndiwalana said.
Kigali City Tour, which has specialized tour buses (double-decker) conducts three tours per day and the BK Arena tours will be a fabulous offer.
Yves Nkundabagenzi, the Managing Director of Ikaze Tours, a local tour company that works closely with BK Arena and KCT said that this service will improve operations and offers of tour companies but the prices will be reviewed after three months.
With the expansion of sporting and entertainment activities around the Amahoro Stadium and BK Arena, partners in this tour service said that the tour services will be extended to other services that are aimed at promoting tourism.
BK Arena is a world-class indoor and lifestyle facility. It is unique in the region and the first of its kind in Rwanda. The construction of the BK Arena started in January 2019 and was inaugurated by President Paul Kagame in August 2019.
In May, 2022, the Government of Rwanda, BK Group, and QA Arena’s management company –entered into a landmark naming rights partnership, with the goal of positioning the arena as a center of excellence for youth, sports, and entertainment development with objective of providing unique and innovative services to the public.
