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Uganda is a country that was created with so much beauty and romanticism. The pearl of Africa, as it was described by the colonial masters who fell in love with her amazing creatures.

There is no debate that the crown goes to Fort Portal, Uganda’s tourism city, and the city of Toro.

Toro is a land with unmatched scenic beauty, a countryside that has majestic tourism sites, cool weather, and hospital dwellers.

With 52 creator lakes in one district, Kabarole, and the imposing snow-capped Rwenzori Mountains, they both attract tourism from within and outside in magnitude.

While addressing the media about the movie on King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru IV, which is set to launch on Friday at the International University of East Africa (IUEA), Joan Else Kantu, the minister of tourism in Toro Kingdom, said the king thought of an idea that will encourage local tourism and also attract newcomers.

Kantu noted that the Toro region is described as the land of opportunity by many in and outside the country; however, there are other beautiful scenes they do not know.

On Tuesday at IUEA, she said the kingdom first premiered the movie in the United States, and it attracted many tourists from there.

(L-R) Prof. Emeka Akaezuwa, the vice chancellor, International University of East Africa (UEA), Nathan Mubembe, the former IUEA Guild President IUEA, Joan Kantu Kamya, the Minister of Tourism for Tooro Kingdom and John Tigasitwa, the senior marketing officer of IUEA chats after the press conference aimed at launching King Oyo‘s documentary. This was at IUEA on November 21, 2023. (Photo by Ramadhan Abbey)

According to Kantu, the majestic movie highlights the beautiful sceneries and all tourism sites in the Toro region and the country at large, describes the cultural diversity, and calls for active actions to mitigate concerns about climate change.

In June 2021, when the king had hosted some visitors enjoying the fireplace, he announced that he would soon climb the Rwenzori Mountains to shoot a short documentary. The same piece would be used to sensitize communities about climate change and its effects, but mostly promote tourism.

“Our environment is very key; people are talking, dreaming, and dancing about it, but hey, our king decided to take action, and the action was to climb Rwenzori and see it himself if those glaciers are still there,” she said.

The combination of spectacular snow-capped peaks, glaciers, V-shaped valleys, fast-flowing rivers with magnificent waterfalls, clear blue lakes, and unique flora contributes to the area's exceptional natural beauty.

The Rwenzori Ecosystem is also a great contributor to tourism development. It is home to 54 Albertine rift endemic species: 18 mammal species, 09 reptile species, 06 amphibian species, and 21 bird species.

Over 217 bird species, including the Rwenzori Turaco, the Bamboo Warbler, the Golden Winged Sunbird, and the Scarlet-tufted Malachite Sunbird, have been recorded, making the ecosystem an important bird-watching site in Uganda.

In 1994, the Rwenzori Mountains were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site and later as a Ramsar Site in 2008 due to the unique beauty and vegetation zones marked by grassland, montane forest, bamboo, heather, and afro-alpine moorland zones that support diverse species of birds and other wildlife.

According to Kantu, the 20-minute movie or documentary highlights all of those and encourages people to embrace local tourism.

The 10-day Rwenzori Royal Expedition to Margherita Peak was flanked by officials from the Tooro Kingdom, the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB).

Daniel Irumba from UTB said, Uganda is a beautiful country that should be able to attract many tourists to boost the country’s economy through foreign exchanges and the introduction of new cultures.

Recently, Uganda has experienced a rise in the number of international travelers, with visitor arrivals surging by 58.8% from 512,945 to 814,508 tourists in 2022, with the sector showing a recovery of 52.2% from the 2018 levels. 

The earnings from tourism/visitor exports amounted to sh2,718.0b ($0.736b), accounting for 12.2% of the total exports and 41.4% in visitor exports from the previous year, although there was still a notable decline of 47.5% compared to the levels recorded in 2019,” he said.

This was during the 1st annual tourism program review Conference at Hotel Africana recently. 

Irumba said the movie will also showcase how glaciers are decreasing, but on the same note, call for immediate actions to manage the causes of climate change.

“When glaciers overheat, those are the floods; we see rivers bursting, yet we can control them,” he said.

The River Nyamwamba in Mubuku has always flooded, leading to the destruction of roads, people’s homes, food, and also claiming lives.

It has been reported that human activities are the root cause of why glaciers are receding. Since the industrial revolution, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions have raised temperatures even higher in the poles, and as a result, glaciers are rapidly melting, calving off into the sea and retreating on land.

Prof. Emeka Akaezuwa, the vice chancellor of IUEA, said the institution has agreed to work with the kingdom to find better solutions for promoting tourism and averting climate change.

Akaezuwa said all possible solutions are within institutions of learning, and only those who need them should point out which specialists they need.

“We are training experts; we are already leading by example in managing carbon emissions because we have electric bikes,” he said.