KAMPALA – Two of the four commissioned Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft delivered by Uganda Airlines early this week, will according to Uganda Tourism Board boss significantly boost the country’s trade on the global market and also facilitate travel across the continent.
The arrival of the bombardiers and revival of Uganda Airlines is a step closer to UTB’s goal of marketing destination Uganda.
Commenting about the arrival of the aircraft, UTB CEO, Lilly Ajarova, expressed optimism at the benefits that this will bring to Uganda’s tourism industry.
“We are extremely pleased to see Uganda Airlines revived after 17years. As the institution mandated to promote Uganda, we are ready and excited to work with Uganda Airlines and the Civil Aviation Authority to ensure that both local and international travelers have a great customer experience aboard these aircraft.
As UTB, she said, “we pledge to use this new development as a tool to promote destination Uganda – the Pearl of Africa.”
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), in 1970, there were 310 million air travelers. In 1990, 1 billion people traveled by air. This number doubled to 2 billion by 2005. The same number increased to 3 billion in 2013 and by 2017, the number had risen to 4 billion. This number is expected to increase to 8.2 billion by 2037.
With such estimates, it’s important for us to work with Uganda Airlines and the Civil Aviation to collaboratively bring even more value to customers to enhance their overall Ugandan experience. In other words, experiencing what Uganda offers will start the moment a traveler on board the aircraft.
The new bombardiers will be flying regional routes within the East African Community. The destination flights routes include Nairobi, Kigali, Darelsalam, Kilimajaro Mombasa, Goma, Zanzibar, Harare, Mogadishu and Addis Ababa.
Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) is a statutory organization established in 1994.
Its role and mandate were reviewed in the Tourism Act of 2008. The Board’s mandate is to promote and market Uganda across the region and internationally, promote quality assurance in tourist facilities through training, grading, and classification, promote tourism investment, support, and act as a liaison for the private sector in tourism development.
The broader goals of the Board are to increase the contribution of tourism earnings and GDP, improve Uganda’s competitiveness as an international tourism destination and increase Uganda’s share of Africa’s and the World tourism market.
UTB aims to create inclusive opportunities for the tourism sector through market transformation.
