The tourism sector has shown significant growth over the past year, courtesy of both government and private sector initiatives to promote tourism. This growth is also attributed to the introduction of new flight routes and expansion initiatives at Entebbe International Airport.
According to the 2nd Annual Tourism Development Programme Performance Report released by the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities – the year 2023 saw an increase in international tourist arrivals. A total of 1.274 million tourists (82.6%) were recorded in 2023, compared to 1.543 million in 2019, showing a positive trend. This represents a 56.4% increase from the 0.815 million arrivals in 2022.
The main tourism source markets for Uganda included Africa, contributing 1.136 million (89.2%) visitors, followed by Asia and the Pacific with 55,975 (4.4%) visitors, Europe with 39,596 (3.1%) visitors, the Americas with 23,643 (1.9%) visitors, the Middle East with 3,983 (0.3%) visitors, and Oceania with 2,939 (0.2%) visitors. In 2023, business tourists made up 13% of the total, visitors coming to see friends and relatives (VFR) consisted of 29%, educational tourists were 6%, shoppers were 4%, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) accounted for 8%, religious tourists were 4%, health tourists were 3%, and volunteers were 2%, while other purposes made up 6%.
Tourism contributed USD2.8bn (5.5%) to Uganda’s GDP and created approximately 610,000 jobs, which is about 5.7% of the national total employment. International tourist receipts grew 48.5% in 2023, reaching Shs3,818.6 bn (USD1.025 bn) from Shs2,751.5 bn in 2022. International tourism also recovered to 88% of pre-pandemic levels in 2023 (a 12% decrease from 2019), with an estimated 1.3 billion arrivals, up by 34% from 2022.
Uganda’s tourism direct gross domestic product (TGDP) increased to USD3.3 trillion in 2023, about 3% of global GDP, similar to 2019 values, driven by strong domestic and international travel. Uganda contributed 0.1% of the world’s market share.
Hon. Matia Kasaija, the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, emphasized that Uganda’s Vision 2040 identifies tourism as a sector with high potential to drive the country’s economic transformation.
He highlighted the government’s investment of about Shs2.9 trillion in the tourism industry from FY 2020/21 to 2024/25, which led to a significant recovery in tourism, achieving 82.6% of pre-pandemic international arrivals by the end of 2023.
He also mentioned that tourism businesses’ compliance with national and international service standards increased to 55% from 34%. Tourism development is one of the key growth areas underpinned by the goal of full monetization and formalization of the economy, with a focus on increasing tourist arrivals five-fold under the current spend-per-tourist and length-of-stay. The target is to generate annual export earnings of US$50 billion.
The Budget Strategy for FY2025/26, under the theme “Full Monetization of Uganda’s Economy through Commercial Agriculture, Industrialization, Expanding and Broadening Services, Digital Transformation, and Market Access,” includes the tourism development agenda, emphasizing unlocking the constraints to tourism development.
Hon. Tom Butime, the Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, stated that through conservation efforts, they have continued to manage 22 wildlife-protected areas and supported 30 wildlife sanctuaries and four community conservation areas, working to reduce human-wildlife conflicts.
He also noted that efforts have been made to develop a wide variety of tourism products countrywide to enhance tourist individual experiences and customer satisfaction.
In the final year of NDP3, the Tourism Development Programme aims to implement achievable interventions to promote domestic and inbound tourism, increase the quality of tourism infrastructure, develop and diversify tourism products and services, develop a skilled personnel pool in the tourism value chain, and ensure Uganda is a prime destination.
Doreen S. Katusiime, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry, also noted that industries such as hotels, travel, airlines, restaurants, and leisure, along with the wider effects from investments in the entire supply chain, have led to increased income. Additionally, the recovery of the tourism industry has been fuelled by these efforts.
Amb. Ian Sadek – Head Of the European Union Delegation In Uganda said that the European Union has invested quite a lot in Uganda’s tourism industry, including support in the national parks together with the Uganda Development Bank (UDB) as partners, especially during the post-Covid-19 recovery for hotels and tour operators as they invested EUR 6 million and helped 120 accommodation/hotel facilities to survive during the difficult times of the pandemic.
He also cited that Uganda has now started to look at how its image is perceived in other parts of the world, beyond the tourist attractions themselves, wildlife, national parks, and lodges; this is important even for European countries, because to attract tourists, you need to have a positive image of the country and ensure it has a good reputation, and of course this includes peace, but also other factors include how you manage epidemics, for instance, M-POX and Ebola among other urgencies.
Uganda’s tourism sector has undoubtedly proven its resilience, and with sustained investment and collaboration, it is set to achieve even greater heights in the coming years.
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