Rwanda is unlikely choice for new luxury resort

Rwanda has been revealed as the surprise choice for a new resort by beachside retreat operator One&Only.

Announced this week for the luxury brand’s new Nature Resorts division, One&Only Nyungwe House will open in July on the grounds of a working tea plantation in Gisakura on the edge of the Nyungwe National Park, in the south of the country. The park incorporates one of the oldest forests in Africa and provides habitat for 20 per cent of all apes on the continent.

Visitors will be able to join excursions to view rare breeds of chimpanzees, while horticulturalists will have the opportunity to explore trails flanked by exotic flora.

Speaking exclusively to Telegraph Travel, One&Only president Philippe Zuber said the desire to claim “a space which hasn’t yet been taken” by other ultra-luxury brands prompted the operator to look to a country that only welcomed 1.3 million tourists in 2015. New three-times-a-week flights between London Gatwick and Kigali will help Britons reach the resort.

A second resort is set to follow in 2018, near the northern village of Kinigi and targeted at those wishing to see the country’s mountain gorillas.

Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda incorporates one of the oldest forests in Africa