Delegates arrive ahead of tourism forum

All is set for the Giants Club Conservation and Tourism Investment Forum tomorrow that will be graced by President Yoweri Museveni at the Lake Victoria Serena Resort in Kigo.

"Delegates have arrived and some have even visited the sites that they could be interested in investing in. More delegates will come later today," Vincent Mugaba, the Uganda Tourism Board spokesperson told the New Vision.

At the forum, President Museveni will launch a new framework for investing in the country's protected area network. The move is expected to attract investors to develop facilities in the country's wildlife area so as to attract more tourists to the country.

"Tourism has distinguished itself as a productive sector with the ability to transform Uganda from a predominantly peasant society to middle income level. The Investment Forum specifically seeks to create strategies to contribute to increase Tourist arrivals from the 1,323,000 in 2016 to 4,084,000 in 2020; foreign exchange earnings from US$ 1.371 billion to US$2.7 billion in 2020; promote job creation; and increase the contribution of tourism to GDP from Shillings 7.3 trillion to shillings 14.68 trillion at the end of the FY 2020," the President said in a statement announcing the forum.

The forum is expected to attract hundreds of delegates from around the world.