UGANDA; Uganda Tourism Board Set To Promote Tourism

The Ministry of Tourism and Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) have in the last two years rolled out an ambitious plan to promote Uganda's tourism potential to both the outside world and to the domestic market. With a slightly bigger budget of Shs5 billion for UTB from the paltry Shs500 million it used to receive, the focus seems to be on showcasing Uganda at the international trade fairs in Berlin, London, etc, and to Miss Tourism pageant to create internal tourism ambassadors.

When tourists arrive in the country, however, their options are still limited to viewing gorillas and other wildlife, visiting the source of the Nile and perhaps whitewater rafting, and lately birding. This might be just fine for tourists coming into the country for a few days. For the domestic tourist (actual or potential one), these options are limited, tend to be expensive and may not be repeated.

Yet there is a lot of potential for the country to develop more tourism offerings. Take Lake Victoria, for example, has potential to provide an array of recreational facilities for residents and tourists but we are only using it for fishing and water supplies! The lake is just 7km from the city centre but if one wanted to have a quiet moment by the lakeside, there are no decent places whether at Port Bell, Ggaba, etc. Instead, filth and chaos have ruled the shores; with some places exploited by thugs abusing drugs.

The lack of lakeside resorts aside, there are no lake cruises (sunset or night) that are popular with tourists like in other parts of the world. There are only fishing canoes and a few personal semi-luxury boats moored at Munyonyo.

The same can be said of all the other lakes in the country and even River Nile which other countries such as Egypt and Sudan have fully exploited for tourism with legendary cruises and resorts often featured on international TV documentaries.

The role of UTB and the Ministry of Tourism should be to point out these opportunities to investors and facilitate their quick development so that Uganda's tourism experience is expanded beyond game drives, and song and dance. Local businessmen/women throwing their money in all sorts of concrete structures called arcades in Kampala that remain empty for years perhaps have not been pointed to opportunities to invest in recreation infrastructure around our water bodies.

It is therefore up to our tourism agencies to think outside the box and open new frontiers for our recreation industry.

Our view: Local businessmen/women throwing their money in all sorts of concrete structures called arcades in Kampala that remain empty for years perhaps have not been pointed to opportunities to invest in recreation infrastructure around our water bodies.