The government through the tourism ministry and Uganda Tourism Board has set a target of undertaking various interventions to ensure the country’s foreign exchange earnings from tourism increase to $5.2b by 2028.

Whereas each of the three neighboring countries of Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda invests not less than $30m each in marketing their tourism globally, Uganda invests about $2m for the same purpose.

Sector players like Amos Wekesa of Great Lakes Safari and others made some studies and discovered that if the Uganda government can invest between $30m and $40m in marketing Uganda’s tourism globally, the country can earn more than $12b annually from tourism.

According to the Executive Director of Uganda Tourism Board Dr. Lilly Ajarova, at the height of its peak before the disruptions of COVID-19, the number of tourists coming to Uganda had reached 1542620 and the foreign exchange earnings from the sector had reached $1.6b.

On the contribution to GDP and job creation, Ajarova said when the sector was at its peak in 2019, it had created 1559000 jobs and that the sector was contributing 7.7% to the country’s GDP (economy).

On the sector targets, Ajarova said the sector targets to increase the number of tourists coming to Uganda from 1.5 million tourists the country got in 2019 to 3.5 million tourists in 2028 and to increase the foreign exchange earnings from the sector from $1.6b in 2019 to $5.19b by 2028.

The sector, according to Ajarova, also targets to increase the number of leisure tourists coming to Uganda from 20.1% in 2019 to 30% by 2028.

The UTB ED referred to Studies that were done and it was discovered that for every 100,000 leisure tourists the country gets, an additional 1% GDP growth is realized, and the foreign exchange earnings from the sector increase by 15%

Information from UTB indicates that Uganda’s tourism sector is steadily recovering and the latest statistics indicate that Uganda got 814508 tourists in 2022 which earned the country $736m.  

When former British prime minister Winston Churchill called Uganda the Pearl of Africa, his narrative was simply to tell the world that Uganda is the most naturally endowed country in Africa and that gives Uganda a competitive advantage in tourism globally.

Uganda is blessed with an exceptional abundance of natural, cultural heritage, and historical resources that should provide an excellent platform for a flourishing tourism sector.

Everything about Uganda is designed to overwhelm your sense of discovery (Pike, 2016).

It is upon this background that various international agencies like Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, and CNN have separately ranked Uganda as one of the top five countries in the world with the most outstanding tourist attractions.

Cognizant of the enormous potential Uganda has in the tourism sector, President Yoweri Museveni in his recent State of the Nation Address gave prominence to the tourism sector and emphasized the need for all stakeholders to prioritize it.

“Tourism is another area that has significant potential for the economy. We have the best tourism sites, including our national parks of Kidepo, Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth, Lake Mburo, Elgon, Rwenzori, Kibaale Forest, Bunyonyi, and many game reserves across the country. Uganda’s tourism sites rank highly in international media outlets and global tourism agencies,” Museveni stated.

The President committed that his government would undertake all the necessary interventions to ensure the country taps the untapped billions of dollars in the tourism sector.

The President said the government would undertake several interventions including ensuring the security of the country and tourism sites, construction of tourism roads, developing tourism sites, training tour guides, creating more tourism facilities, establishing regional airports, and many other interventions which will catapult the tourism sector to greater heights.