The Kenya Tourism Board has welcomed the deal that will see Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda adopt a joint tourist visa from January 2014.
Applications for the joint visa, which will be valid for travel for 90 days, can be made at the point of entry and will cost visitors US$100.
Individual visa charges for Uganda and Kenya are charged at US$50 each and a visa for Rwanda costing $35.
KTB managing director Muriithi Ndegwa said the single joint visa was long overdue. "It will now not only ease movements within the member states but would also allow the tourists to maximise value for money," he said.
Tanzania, a competing country in East Africa tourism, was not represented at the launch.
Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism, Phylis Kandie, said that the joint visa was open to other East African Community members. "We have not locked anyone out," she said.
The EAC is made up of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda
