Museveni Urges Collective Promotion Of Uganda’s Tourism

President Yoweri Museveni wants all Ugandans to join in the efforts to promote Uganda as a favorable tourism destination.

Museveni, in a speech delivered by Vice President, Jessica Alupo while presiding over the opening ceremony of this year’s Pearl Of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE 2024) said his government has prioritized tourism as a formidable growth sector of the economy, as exhibited in the past three National Development Plans.

He promised that the sector shall be prioritized for government intervention in the upcoming development plan.

Museveni said the country’s youthful population should be used to the advantage of the sector, especially in providing a vibrant labor force to the industry.

He advised that the sector should also take advantage of the country’s high fractionalization rate, which brings up a diverse range of cultural products supporting the industry.

“There is no doubt that the most sustainable way for tourism to create a lasting impact is by ensuring higher economic growth, with an increasingly larger proportion of the population participating in this growth at the Parish Development Model, tourism should be anchored so that there is equity and inclusion at this lower level,” he explained.

For increased benefit, the president rallied the tourism sector managers to carefully listen to the investors and travelers to identify their concerns for better marketing of destination Uganda.

Pearl Of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE 2024) was inaugurated in 2016 to showcase Uganda’s tourism potential to the world. It attracts several celebrated industry players from all over the world.

Lilly Ajarova, the CEO of the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), who is the event’s chief organizer said that this is the country’s tourism sector signature event.

She said the sector is open to over 5,000 trade visitors and 70 hosted buyers. She adds that this is part of the board’s mandate of selling Uganda as a premium tourism destination.

According to Ajarova, the hosted buyers have been in Uganda for over five days, being taken through the various tourist attractions in the country to trigger their curiosity to explore more of the Pearl of Africa gems, individually as well as spreading the messages across the globe.

She adds that Uganda is an incomparable destination because of its unique cultural heritage, geographical positioning, and the diverse safari experiences which can’t be found anywhere else in the world.

The CEO reveals that in a significant move to further promote destination Uganda, the board partnered with Emirates Airlines. She adds that such innovations under the Explore Uganda campaign have greatly increased the number of visitors to the country’s key tourist sites.

Moving forward, Ajarova affirms that the board is considering aggressive marketing of destination Uganda to new places, using all available marketing avenues.

“Our plan is to further expand our reach through brand promotional campaigns, digital and mainstream media advertising, influencer marketing, and expo participation. We want to tell the story of our natural heritage, our past, our present, and write the stories of our future,” she said.

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