MASINDI – Adventure Vacation Safaris with support from Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), Private Sector Foundation (PSFU) and Uganda Tourism Association (UTA) on Friday morning flagged off a three-day domestic Tourism promotional tour.
Dubbed “Fellowship on the Nile”, the tour running from March 25th – 27th will see rotary leaders explore different tourism features at Murchison Falls National Park in Buliisa District. This is a unique opportunity to roll-out the new destination brand – ‘Explore Uganda’’
This tour is geared towards inspiring Ugandans to visit the destination’s prized tourism sites and attractions across the Country. Over 50 leaders of the Rotary clubs across Uganda have been invited for the tour.
The drive comes shortly after UTB launched the ‘’Explore Uganda’’ – The Pearl of Africa brand that is aimed at communicating the unique tourism proposition in the domestic, regional and international marketplace for increased tourism numbers.
“Therefore, the partnership between Uganda Tourism Board and Adventure Vacation Safaris will tap into the opportunities presented by the tour to position Uganda as a favourite leisure and MICE tourism destination,” says UTB.
While addressing Media and Rotary club leaders during the Flag – Off event at Pope Paul Memorial Hotel in Rubaga, UTB Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Mr Bradford Ochieng lauded Adventure Vacation Safaris for the initiative and highlighted the urgency to increase both domestic and international tourism visits as the covid 19 pandemic comes to an end. Tourism is poised to remain the country’s biggest foreign exchange earner.
“Pre-pandemic, Uganda’s tourism sector was one of the fastest-growing sectors. The sector generated GDP US$1.6 billion in Forex earnings for 2018 compared to US$1.45 billion in 2017, accounted for 7.7% of the national GDP. While, Number of international visitor arrivals increased by 7.4% from 1,402,409 in 2017 to 1,505,669 in 2018. However, with the pandemic, the country received 512,945 tourists in 2021. Therefore, to return to the pre-pandemic arrivals, UTB developed a Strategic Plan and a Recovery Marketing Strategy to propel the sector to recovery through interventions such as domestic tourism promotion and destination branding.”
“UTB unveiled the new brand — Explore Uganda to communicate and position Uganda as a highlights reel of all that is rare, precious and beautiful in Africa. The new brand promise seeks to reemphasise Uganda’s rare depth, beautiful range and precious variety of attractions for a competitive market share,” he added.
Farouk Busuulwa, the Managing Director – Adventure Vacation Safaris revealed that the partnership is will inspire Rotary leaders and club members to visit the country’s prized tourism attractions starting off with Murchison Falls Park which has several unique features; famous big five animal species, a watershed that connects River Nile from its source in Jinja city to Egypt to drain into the Mediterranean Sea.
“The Fellowship on the Nile domestic tourism promotional tour will emphasize the Pearl of Africa brand’s invitation for travellers to Explore: delve into, deep-dive, discover and continuous rediscover the rare depth, range and variety of attractions in the Pearl. And given that, international borders and the aerospace is open, the Board looks forward to growing the sector together and revive pre-pandemic tourist numbers and beyond.”
Mr Peace Taremwa, the incoming District Governor for district 9214; Uganda and Tanzania added that the partnership is a great initiative that will showcase Uganda’s endowment.
He noted, “Other than people going for foreign trips abroad, Covid – 19 exposed the beauty within our backyard, it’s time for Ugandans to appreciate the country’s diverse and unique tourist attractions including; freshwater bodies, flora and fauna, diverse cultures, hospitality, temperate climate, culinary among others.”
The team will participate in various activities at Murchison Falls National Park including; day and night game drives, zip-lining, boat cruises, nature walks, a business fellowship, picnic Sundowners and hiking at the top of the falls.