7 February 2022
Last update on Monday, February 7, 2022 At 10:33 AM
According to the Ugandan government, the tourism sector accounted for 7.7% of the country's GDP and 6.3% of all formal employment before covid-19. However, with the advent of the pandemic, in 2020, these numbers began to decrease.
Uganda wants to boost tourism through the establishment of a new brand called “Explore Uganda The Pearl of Africa“. The official launch of this label was made by the Head of State, Yoweri K. Museveni, on January 28, in an official press release.
This initiative comes from the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities in collaboration with the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB). Its objective is to “enhance the competitiveness of Uganda as a Nation”. According to Colonel Tom Butime, Minister of Tourism, the project will serve to “increase the contribution of tourism to national development” and to “increase the number of visitors to the country”. It also aims to boost the sector’s contribution to GDP, the protection and conservation of natural habitats, flora and fauna.
President Museveni, meanwhile, insisted that the focus be on promoting “community and cultural tourism”. He also asked those responsible for the project to publicize the country’s progress with regard to its health system.
This initiative comes as Uganda records a drop in the number of visitors, mainly due to covid-19. Indeed, the country has gone from 1.45 billion USD in tourism receipts before the pandemic to 450 million USD in 2020, a drop of almost 69%. The establishment of ‘Explore Uganda The Pearl of Africa’ follows the ‘Visit Uganda’ brand, whose campaigns struggled to ‘appropriately capture the uniqueness of Ugandan attractions’, according to the CEO of the UTB, Lilly Ajarova.
Kampala aims by 2024/25, through this new brand, to increase tourism profits to $1.86 billion, revenue per inbound visitor from $1,036 to $1,500, and reach pre-pandemic levels of tourism. jobs and the average number of tourist arrivals from the United States, Europe, the Middle East, China and Japan. In addition, the country hopes to increase the proportion of leisure tourists from the total number from 20.1% to 30%, and increase the number of direct airlines to Europe and Asia from 6 to 30.
Recall that in recent years, the trend of tourist arrivals in Uganda has seen a steady increase until 2020 when the number of tourist visits increased from 1,542,620 to 473,085, according to figures from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics relayed by the Ministry of Tourism.
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