Launched a year ago at the World Travel Market 2013, the East African Community’s much anticipated single tourist visa has been bought fewer than 1,000 times, according to a report in eTurboNews.

Just three of the five East African Community member states — Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda — came on board with the common visa, which costs $100 per person — a savings of $30 over buying separate visas for all three countries.

These countries, known as the “Coalition of the Willing,” could be joined in 2015 by Burundi, eTurboNews reports. This would raise the value of the visa because four countries are better than three, but the best value will still be for all the five East African Community member states to come together and cooperate — an unlikely scenario considering Tanzania’s objections, including statements that accepting such a visa would pose a security risk for them.

Waturi Matu is coordinator at the East African Tourism Platform, a private sector organization for regional tourism.

Tourism in the private sector will drive increased use of the common visa, and it will only happen if tour operators are packaging all three countries as one, she said. She pointed to the Southern African Development Community as an example of the private sector perfecting the art of multinational packaging. “This has greatly contributed to the increased arrivals to the SADC Region,” she said. “The average stay in the region is estimated at 14 days.”

Up-to-date statistics from the three East African countries are needed, she said.

Despite challenges, the Coalition of the Willing is cooperating to advance tourism, with joint exhibitions at major tourism trade fairs and with East Africa’s single tourist visa.