Tourism now contributing about 7.9% to Uganda’s GDP

Today as you read this, one of the leading foreign export earner for Uganda is tourism and this has set a record in East Africa with an annual contribution to the country’s GDP of 7.9%.This new achievement is as a result of increased number of visitors registered on a daily basis on their safari to different destinations in the country. According to the Uganda Wildlife Authority, UWA director, Andrew Seguya, the sector has the sector has for the last 2 years created employment for over 600,000 people both nationals and foreigners. He said that the return on Investing in tourism is so high and by investing more in the sector, more revenues are to be generated.

For a long time now, Uganda through UWA has been trying to harness different tour packages including cultural, adventure and religious tourism. More sensitization of foreigners about the wonderful attraction of this pearl of Africa is still wanting and with the help of the government, UWA has vowed to improve on it. It was last week when Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) launched a campaign of training more Guides as a way of equipping them with the relevant information and skills on how to deal with the visitors. This was aimed at improving the service delivery and also attract more visitors to come and spend more time in the country. It came as an additional plan to those that have already been put in place to see that the sector is improved for better service delivery.

Uganda is one of the leading tourism destinations in Africa and it receives the highest number of visitor on a daily basis compared to its neighbors. The hard-to-find natural wonders found in the country are a secret weapon used against other countries as people from different destinations are convinced to come and spend one or more days while enjoying a lifetime experience. Withe gorilla tracking acting as the leading activity, there are other adventurous activities one can enjoy while on a Uganda safari like cultural tours, game drives, bird watching, chimpanzee trekking, nature walks, boat rides, hiking and many more. Not forgetting the 10 National Parks which provide the best ground for exploring the real beauty of Africa as you move through the thick evergreen rainforests.

The possibility of enjoying a wide range of adventurous activities while on a Uganda safari has enabled the country to continuously attract visitors every year making it one of the most visited country on the continent .This has led to an increase in the revenue collected from the sector making it one of the most valuable sectors in the country.