Uganda Tourist Board (UTB)
 UTB moves to boost tourism Uganda Tourism Board [UTB] has launched a tourism campaign to promote birding in the country. The campaign dubbed: ‘African Birding Expo’ is one of its kind on the African continent, targeting more than 100,000 foreign birders in the country.While launching the campaign at the weekend in Kampala, UTB executive director, Mr Stephen Asiimwe, said since tourism has emerged as the number one foreign exchange earner in the world, birding is a very big strategic product for the country.Mr Asiimwe explains that tourism sector is contributing about 10 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product and 23 per cent of exports. According to the annual Tourism Sector Performance Report, the country earned Shs7.3 billion from tourism. Read more ▪ UTB: Tourism earns economy Shs7.3b The Tourism Sector Performance Report indicate that tourism continues to be a pillar of Uganda’s economy, contributing nearly Shs7.3b to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the financial year. This translates into 9 per cent of the country’s GDP. This was an increase from Shs6.3b.Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) chief executive officer, Mr Stephen Asiimwe, attributed the growth to increased interest in Uganda’s tourist destinations.“Many people are coming for leisure but the rise is also a result of increased investments. The government has invested in infrastructure whereas private sector has put up more hotels,” he said. Read more ▪ Tourism Promotion: German journalists visit Uganda,UTB A team of four senior journalists from Germany are on a tour in Uganda as part of the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) strategy to open Uganda to German speaking Europe.The tour also commonly known as a familiarization (fam) trip is the first from KPRN one of the agencies President Yoweri Museveni commissioned to market and promote Uganda tourism in the global market. KPRN represents Uganda’s travel and tourism business interests in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The other firms are PHG for North America and Kamageo for UK and Ireland.The media team includes KatrinSchreiter, of theMADSACK Media Group; Margot Zeslawski, FOCUS; Jutta Lemcke, srt; Thomas Krüger, Flying Media.The group was today unveiled by the Tourism Minister Hon Ephraim Kamuntu at the Uganda Media Center. According to the minister, the team has visited various tourist attractions around the country. They have been to the Queen Elizabeth National Park where they took a boat launch on the Kazinga channel and a game drive. From QENP, the team moved south to the famous gorilla highlands to track gorillas in the Mgahinga National Park. Read more ▪ UTB starts classification of hotels Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) has launched an exercise aimed at identifying and classifying hotels and related accommodation facilities according to East African Community (EAC) standards. “To qualify for classification, the hotel has to meet all aspects of the essential requirements,” said Mr James Ssebagala, UTB coordinator for quality assurance. UTB held an awards ceremony for hotels classified under the Ministry of Tourism. UTB chief executive officer Stephen Asiimwe said the ongoing inventory exercise is to guide in the assessment and standardisation of accommodation facilities in the country. “Uganda is classifying hotels working with the same standards used by all East African Community members. It is a requirement that all accommodation facilities be classified under the same EAC standards,” he said. The present grading covers the physical and intangible service expected from an accommodation facility in a specified category and level of classification. Read more ▪ UTB: Hospitality industry struggles to meet world standards Uganda’s hospitality industry continues to struggle to comply with world class standards as more than 70 % of hotels and sleeping places in Kampala do not conform to the basic requirements for classification.This means the country loses the bulk of tourists intending to visit over long periods of time to neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania.According to the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), only 26 out of the 78 hotels and sleeping places that were assessed in Kampala conform to the basic standards required for classification. However, Data from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) indicates there are more than 6,400 hotels and sleeping places in Kampala, 3,000 of which are mapped on GPS.“Unfortunately, most did not take part in the grading process because they don’t meet the basic requirements,” said the UTB deputy executive director, John Sempebwa. Only 400 hotels and sleeping places across the country are registered under the Uganda Hotel Owners’ Association(UHOA), the bulk of which have neither classification, nor means to attract tourists. Read more ▪ UTB: 75 agencies to market Uganda Shs500m has been invested in inviting 75 foreign tourism marketing agencies to sample Uganda’s attractions so as to sell the country as a possible tourist destination, the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) has revealed. According to UTB marketing manager Edwin Muzahura, the companies, which have just completed a familiarisation tour of Uganda’s tourism destinations, are also participating in the inaugural Pearl of Africa Tourism exhibition, which opened at the Kampala Serena Hotel. Notable among the countries in attendance are Ghana, Singapore, Belgium, Jordan, Italy, Zimbabwe, Palestine, Ecuador, USA, Columbia and Japan.“This is one of the strategies we are using for countries such as Italy, USA and others that have never experienced our products because they have not been selling Uganda as a destination,” Mr Muzahura said. Read more ▪ UTB: Government under pressure to revive Uganda Airlines The government can no longer contend with the fact that the country does not have a national carrier, Daily Monitor has learnt that President Museveni also believes the country is better off with the national carrier than without it.While meeting government senior officials before the concluded Northern Corridor Infrastructure Project (NCIP) Summit in Nairobi Kenya, Mr Museveni said it is time to have Uganda Airlines revived so as to counter the exploitation Ugandans are subjected to while flying in other carriers. On his Facebook wall, the chief executive officer of Uganda Tourism Board, Mr Stephen Asiimwe, posted that while the government senior officials and ministers were meeting in preparation for the concluded summit, the attention of the President was drawn on exorbitant fares airlines are imposing. He wrote: “While briefing the President, the leader of the delegation Hon Sam Kutesa, Minister of Foreign Affairs said that despite prior arrangements under NCIP, the air service fare in the region have shot up again raising concern of the regional leaders.” Read more ▪ UTB to promote domestic tourism through discounted tours In its commitment to promote domestic tourism with a bang, the Uganda Tourism Board in partnership with the Uganda Safari Guides Association and Uganda Wildlife Authority has started providing highly discounted domestic adventures around the country.According to Edwin Muzahura, Head of Marketing UTB, this move is fueled by an overwhelming public demand and, the positive reception of similar offers that defined Uganda's tourism such as Big birding day, Circumcision festival in Mbale, Bishop Hanington day among others.Compared to a trip arranged on a private basis, Muzahura notes that the distinctive beauty of such offers is that they will be very pocket friendly yet pricelessly rewarding to the dot. Better still, that is just the footnote. The big takeout is that there will be graced by plenty of professional tour guides who will attend to participants and spice up their experiences.Read more ▪ UTB: Tourism board to hire foreign PR firms The Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), the body charged with marketing the country as a destination of choice, has adopted the use of foreign public relations firms to sell Uganda, after traditional marketing registered minimal success.The deputy chief executive officer, John Ssempebwa, told New Vision in an interview that the marketing model is being experimented in the UK, US and Germany.Under the model, UTB hires professional public relations firms in source markets to disseminate information about Uganda, create additional sales opportunities in the competitive market and reinforce the quality of a product against adverse publicity, instead of advertising on international media, such as CNN, which is said to have little impact, yet too expensive.Read more ▪ UTB: Uganda, Rwanda to promote East Africa as single Tourism destination In its commitment to promote East Africa as a single Tourism destination, Uganda has partnered with Rwanda to jointly promote two way tourism traffic between the two sister-countries.Speaking during the 52nd Post Ugandan Independence celebrations at Serena Hotel-Kigali, Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwanadan Minister for Foreign Affairs said the move which was championed by the Uganda Tourism Board in partnership with the Rwandan Development Board is purposed to defend both the security and business developments of the two countries.“People to people relations between Uganda and Rwanda is a very important step to strengthening the tourism sectors of the two economies-both of which come as their country’s biggest revenue earners, contributing over $1b to either countries.”Mushikiwabo said while addressing over 5,000 celebrants including Ugandan fraternity in Rwanda, High Commissioners and friends of Uganda in Rwanda. Read more ▪ UTB: Embrace domestic tourism - minister When Kampalans were told to exploit domestic tourism by minister of tourism Maria Mutagamba at Speke Resort Munyonyo, men craned their necks to take second glances at curvy ladies dressed in flowing saris and tight fitting Jeans trousers.“I mean go to the museums, have nature walks, watch the birds and visit our national parks,” corrected Mutagamba. “There is so much out there. It may be reptiles, the people or the huge animals.”This was at Speke Resort Munyonyo, April 9, while marking the World Tourism Day in style.Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) chairman James Tumusiime said Uganda has a variety of attractions that will excite the most sophisticated guest.“We have the culture, geographical bodies, the animals, reptiles and most of all the people,” said Tumusiime. “UTB has a task to keep Uganda in the eyes of international travellers.”In a nut shell, in the 1970s Munyonyo was popular after Idi Amin baptized it Cape of Good Hope and bought the resident Afrigo Band equipment. There was a beer there when beverages were scarce in the shops. It recently got into focus for hosting the maiden CHOGM symposium held in Africa and the dramatic annual goat’s race. Read more ▪ Uganda shines at Berlin tourism exhibition Uganda was the fifth best exhibitor at the just concluded ITB Berlin tourism exhibition among 10 African countries.The Uganda’s stall in Berlin measuring 120 square meters was the biggest ever in recent years. The number of walk-in visitors marched Kenya’s which occupied almost a similar space.The elegant exhibition stall housed private tour operator who showcased artwork of the rare mountain gorillas, Uganda Waragi gin, artifacts, and images of games and a full time running video playing a documentary of the Ugandan tourism story.Stephen Asiimwe, the chief executive officer, Uganda Tourism Board acknowledges that should the industry pull in one direction and marketing is funded, Uganda will even do better. “Uganda will prosper in tourism, we just need to tweak a few things,” noted Asiimwe adding that the industry is everybody’s business.Other countries in the top ten included Burundi and Rwanda. At a dinner hosted by Ugandan ambassador Marcel Tibaleka, UTB board chairman James Tumusiime noted that as part of efforts to actualize the industry’s full potential, foreign missions need to be fully integrated into the game especially because the largest groups of high spenders are from Europe and America. Read more ▪ Endowed with national parks, birds, primates, geographical features, the new executive director of Uganda Tourist Board (UTB) Steven Asimwe has promised to take tourism to greater heights, boost the numbers of visitors, attract investors and brand Uganda across the globe.“The onus is upon everyone to paint a rosy picture of Uganda as a destination,” said Asimwe. “I appreciate the outgoing team for attracting 1.2m visitor here annually. However, with the new team we intend to quadruple the figure.”Asimwe stressed that during his reign, he is going to engage the whole nation and work with regional partners, conservation groups, local government, cultural institutions and the media to implement the tourism master plan which is embedded in the country’s ambitious Vision2040.Deputized by John Ssempebwa, Asimwe has called upon private investors to exploit existing opportunities in tourism. Read more ▪ |