As the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) continues to promote Uganda as a tourism destination, the board will set the stone rolling towards the African market as a way to increase the country’s tourism numbers.
In a recent interview with the press highlighting on the on going POATE meeting, the UTB CEO Ms Lilly Ajarova, commented that after Asia and the Pacific, Africa is one of the next fastest growing tourism markets and therefore this could be the right time for Uganda to position itself and tap from the potential within the continent.
She further noted that the total visiting tourists’ figures from Africa in 2018 shot up to 42 million, which according to World Trade Organization, four out of every five tourists travelled within their own residential regions. This she said, means that more Africans were likely to travel have travelled within the continent.
“African travelers travel to see friends and family or do business. Uganda is already doing business with Africa, so we need to tap this by telling Africa what we have,” Ms Ajarova added.
Ms Ajarova further noted that, “It is high time Uganda utilizes the benefits of regional and continental integration to boost not only trade but also tourism. Integration such as East African Community Tourist Visa and the upcoming the African Continental Free Trade Area will open up more African borders and skies.”
Over the years, the Uganda government has frequently been urged to invest into local tourism before seeking numbers from other markets as it a hub for great tourism potentials. Regardless of the urge, there has been less investment towards such initiatives with the country mainly relying on Europe, the America and Asia to grow its tourism numbers.
The Africa Development Bank estimates that by 2030, five of the largest consumer markets will be in African namely, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Morocco and Algeria. It also estimates that there will be 56 million middle-class households with disposable incomes of nearly $680b.
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