In a bid to position its tourism offerings to global visitors, the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), took time at the recently concluded Magical Kenya Travel Expo (MKTE 2022) at The Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi, to showcase its recently launched new brand ‘The Explore Uganda’.
During the announcement that took place at the Uganda Tourism Board pavilion, Ochieng Bradford, deputy chief executive officer of the board, encouraged tourists to explore the natural, adventure, leisure, business and cultural attractions that Uganda has to offer.
Ochieng said that the, “Tourist Board has intensified its campaign to reposition Uganda – popularly known as the ‘Pearl of Africa’ for its unique beauty – as a leading tourism destination in Africa under a new thematic brand dubbed Explore Uganda.”
Ochieng further noted that the refreshed destination brand identity captures the essence of the Pearl of Africa with its mesmerizing experiences catering to the needs of diverse visitors with its endemic and endangered flora and fauna, pleasant year-round weather, punctuated by unique scenery.
UTB is also banking on its revamped relationships with local tour operators to grow spend and duration of stay in Uganda by visitors from Africa and aggressively marketing the adventure segment mainly to a youthful clientele willing to explore new travel experiences.
Uganda received over 1.5 million tourists in 2019 but despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the country’s tourism is poised for recovery with renewed emphasis on the intra-African travel market as a key strategy.
President Yoweri Museveni has described the new brand Explore Uganda, Pearl of Africa, as a marketing strategy to re-imagine Ugandan tourism and position the country as a competitive international travel destination.
Kenya is among the five key African markets that UTB is eyeing besides Ethiopia, Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa.
Tourism generates about 7.75 percent of Uganda’s GDP and about 7 percent of total national employment. Tourism data from 2017-2019 shows the top five source markets in terms of arrivals as being Rwanda (32 percent), Kenya (24 percent), Tanzania (6 percent), US (4 percent) and India (3 percent).
