The Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities on Thursday launched the 3rd edition of the Explore Uganda series dubbed Explore North which will see hundreds of local travelers explore parts of Northern Uganda in a 5-day campaign.
This edition was preceded by the Explore West campaign held in April this year and the inaugural Explore Elgon drive which was conducted in December 2022.
Giving his remarks during the launch held at Sheraton Hotel, Hon. Martin Mugarra Bahinduka, the State Minister for Tourism, said that through these domestic tourism drives, the Ministry aims at buttressing the industry’s resilience and reducing its dependence on foreign tourists.
This, he said, cushions the sector from suffering the adverse effects of disruptions occasioned by unforeseen hinderances like pandemics which halt foreign travel.
“After COVID-19 affected the industry, we realized the importance to push the drive for marketing Uganda for the domestic market, and encourage Ugandans to travel. The only way we can have a resilient sector when foreigners cannot come into the country for reasons like disease outbreak, is to have the Ugandans travel,” the Minister said.
He added, “Before Covid, that is 2019, only 132,000 Ugandans were recorded visiting tourism sites like UWEC- the Entebbe Zoo, the museum and other Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) sites like the National Parks. By the end of 2022, we had 890,000 Ugandans visiting these sites because of the awareness created on local travel. Our goal is to have at least one million Ugandans doing local travel by the end of this year.”
Speaking at the launch, Daniel Irunga, the Senior Marketing Officer at Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) said the domestic tourism campaigns are a great input towards the industry’s complete recovery.
He noted that Ugandans travel most especially to experience culture, infrastructure and adventure and as a marketing entity, UTB is capitalizing on this analysis to avail tour packages that satisfy tour enthusiasts’ needs.
“By 2024 we expect 100% recovery of the sector. Right now, we are at about 65% and campaigns like Explore North among other Explore Uganda series will take us to full recovery,” Irunga said.
He further dissected the culture of Ugandan travelers noting that many like to travel in groups; they are social capitalists who believe that once they talk about travel, they will appear very sophisticated; they travel randomly; they have varied interests and reasons for travel.
“Regarding infrastructure tourism, we recently had an MOU with the Uganda Electricity Generation Company Ltd and we will get access to the Karuma Dam as part of the itinerary,” he added.
Asked if the government has done enough as regards funding the sector, Hon. Mugarra said that much as the Ministry is not getting the biggest share of the budget considering the other sectors yearning for the same, they are utilizing the money allocated to have the best output.
The Explore North campaign will have influencers and celebrities like singer Jose Chameleone, kickboxing champion Golola Moses and seasoned comedian Teacher Mpamire who will bring vibrancy to the trip as well as pull crowds both online and in the physical spaces- a strategy to widen the reach of the campaign’s message.