The tourism sector has been in the public interest lately. When the government splashed out $1 million to CNN to publicize Uganda’s beauty, tourism benefited. But when riots rocked Kampala after opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye’s arrest on November 14, 2005, the tourism industry got a dent.
And now Uganda is preparing for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, next year with more than 2,000 guests expected in the country. JEFF MBANGA spoke to PROF. WOLFGANG THOME, President of the Uganda Tourism Association (UTA), about the industry and the challenges that lie ahead.
Uganda’s main tourism attractions are wildlife based. Uganda has the gorillas, chimpanzees and also an enormous potential for adventure tourism, like water rafting, kayaking, mountaineering. Uganda has the Rwenzori mountain ranges which is a great attraction for mountain climbers.
The number of tourists coming into Uganda has been growing and increasing every now and then . This is because the private sector has been more successful in promoting the tourism industry. Owners of tourist sites have hired people to go out and market their places in other countries. Different tour operators are attending various tourism conferences in the guise to market the industry worldwide . Then of course we had KLM airlines coming back to Uganda after 30 years. This means the number of tourists coming to Uganda is increasing. (According to Uganda Bureau of Statistics, tourists coming into the country has increased from 192,790 in 2000 to 512,378 in 2004). There is also the government’s campaign on CNN, which benefits the tourism industry a great deal. UTA is looking at China as a potential market for Uganda’s tourism sites; Where by the Chinese government with about one and a half billion people recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The Ugandan government. Professor Wolf Ganga Thome has been representing the private sector when the MOU was being discussed. He said ,“For us that was a big step because China only allows people to visit tourist attractions in countries with whom they have signed an MOU and now all we need is to attract Chinese Airlines to fly into the country”.
BY Tanah Hadijah
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