Uganda’s tourism sector is expected to boom after government endorsed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese government to encourage Chinese tourists to visit Uganda.
State Minister for Tourism, Jovina Akaki says that government is targeting over one million Chinese tourists in the next coming five years.
Speaking to journalists in Kampala, Akaki said that the tourism in Uganda has improved tremendously due to government good relations with global players.
Meanwhile, Akaki estimates that over 500,000 tourists in general are expected this year, and with them annual returns in excess of 260 million US dollars are expected.
The minister says government is to establish working relations with travel agents in the country, who will link the Chinese tourists to the country.
He calls on the public to invest in improving the infrastructures like hotels and recreation centers to offer tourists a variety of attractions.
The Senior Advisor for the International Trade Centre, Emmanuel Barreto has said that for every 100 tourists projected only 20 of them visit Uganda’s tourist destinations.
Barreto attributes this to lack of knowledge about what the country has to offer in terms of tourism sites and services due to lack of promotion and advertising of the tourist destinations.
Speaking in Kampala, Barreto said that although Uganda has a lot of tourist attractions like guerilla tracking and mountain climbing, which are liked by tourists from especially Europe and North America, but they do not know this tourism potential.
He says that investors in the tourism sector should exploit the country’s tourism potential by offering leaflets in hotels and do outdoor advertising along roads to make Uganda’s tourist destinations known to all those who visit the country.
Barreto also says that there is need for Tour and Travel Operators as well as hotel owners to standardize and promote tourist packages.
