July 2026

Rwanda’s tourism board did not expect to win Best Tourism Infrastructure in London this year. Small countries do not usually beat South Africa and Kenya at their own game, and yet in 2025 Rwanda did exactly that at the Africa Tourism Awards, then picked up a Wanderlust Bronze for Most Desirable Emerging Destination a few months later. Tourism now makes up roughly one in every ten dollars of the country’s entire GDP.

Kenya was named Africa’s Leading Destination at the World Travel Awards, the industry’s most closely watched honor, and anyone who has stood in the Masai Mara at dawn understands exactly why. This is not a country that simply has wildlife. It is the place the rest of the safari world measures itself against.