Green Buildings and Green City Strategies for the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Tourism Industry in Rwanda

ABSTRACT

The tourism industry and its associated infrastructure is propelling Rwanda's rapid urbanization and economic growth. Recently adopted green buildings and green city policies, including newly developed city master plans and green building code, reflect on the tourism industry, regulating its influence on urban development and communities. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism in Rwanda was one of the key sectors of economic development, and the largest foreign exchange earner, contributing to almost 15% of gross domestic product, generating 13% of the total employment. Rapid growth of the tourism sector is potentially linked to consumption of high carbon-intensive building materials, energy-intensive transportation choices, high dependency on fossil fuels for lighting, cooking, heating and cooling, and cleaning. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to the loss of USD 1.2 trillion in international tourism globally. In Rwanda, closure of borders for passenger flights and businesses other than essential services, and postponing of events, influenced the loss of about USD 7.6 million in income and 4000 jobs in the tourism sector. In addition to the Rwandan government's support of affected tourism businesses and linked livelihoods, there is a need for more innovative and sustainable solutions to building back better. After surveying hotel suppliers and hotel managers in Rwanda's Musanze District and analyzing the results, this chapter provides recommendations for actions on how Rwanda's secondary cities, that highly depend on tourism, can respond to the pandemic and set a path of sustainable and inclusive growth by boosting resilience, clean energy transition, and a circular economy. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.