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Entebbe International Airport said Friday it had registered an increase in passenger numbers, meaning an increase in the volumes of arrivals and departures.

The airport, located in Wakiso district on the northern shores of Lake Victoria, handled 83,483 arriving and 93,884 departing passengers in February 2024.

This was a total of 177,367 international passengers or an average of 6,116 per day, said Vianney Luggya, the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCCA) spokesperson in a statement released Friday. 

"This was 39,162 more than was handled in February 2023," he said.

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Entebbe International Airport handled 83,483 arriving and 93,884 departing passengers in February 2024. (File photo)

Luggya said that in January this year, the airport recorded a total of 196,199 passengers, including 1,918 specifically for the two back-to-back summits that Uganda hosted: 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit and the Third South Summit of the G77+China.

On Tuesday this week, the tourism and wildlife ministry released the Dissemination of Tourism Performance 2023 report, which indicated a notable increase in tourist arrivals in Uganda.

It noted that leisure tourists now spend an average of more than seven nights, while attendees of meetings, incentives, concerts, and exhibitions (MICE) spend an average of five nights.

"Consequently, tourism revenue is expected to surpass the sh4.580.4 billion mark achieved in 2019," said tourism minister Tom Butime while releasing the report in Kampala.

A passenger inquiring at Entebbe International Airport. The airport handled 83,483 arriving and 93,884 departing passengers in February 2024. (File photo

He attributed the growth to various categories of tourists, including faith-based travellers, business visitors, transit passengers, shoppers, medical tourists, cultural enthusiasts, and those visiting friends and relatives.

"We anticipate further increases in numbers after successfully hosting the Non-Aligned Movement [NAM] and G77+China conferences," he said.

Butime said it will mean more spending by the visitors on food, beverages, accommodation, guiding services, entertainment, and travel which will have a positive effect on the economy.

Tourism has become a major employer in Uganda, with 610,806 people finding employment in the sector in 2022, an increase from 573,508 in 2019.