Seek opportunities within the tourism sector- Mutagamba

Oct 14, 2015

Minister of tourism, wildlife and antiquities, Maria Mutagamba has urged youths to start taking advantage of Uganda's beauty to seek opportunities within the sector.

By Oyet Okwera                           

Minister of tourism, wildlife and antiquities, Maria Mutagamba has urged youths to start taking advantage of Uganda's beauty to seek opportunities within the sector.

Mutagamba disclosed that the sector requires more professional personnel to better market the country.

She was speaking recently at the headquarters of Uganda wild life authority (UWA) during a ceremony to flag off selected university students to tour western Uganda.

The students' tour to Rwenjeru was sponsored by UWA and Rwenjeru camp site in Mbarara.

"As you tour the camp site, learn some of the basics and emulate the tour guides in a bid to join the sector, which is the second in terms of export earnings through the invisible trade," said Mutagamba.


Mutagamba (3rd from left, front row) in a group picture with students from the selected universities

The minister called on the students to support the sector which is multi professional since it requires accountants, media personnel, administrators, hoteliers among others.

She wooed the students to support the sector through offering human resource in all spheres of service delivery.

According to Charles Tumwesigye, deputy director, conservation at UWA, there is need to appreciate tourism and also encourage domestic tourism.

Tumwesigye says with more specialized roles in the sector, more opportunities can be available.

"We need to re-develop all the potential tourist sites to increase the number of visitors in the country. This can be done through working closely with all the stakeholders," said Tumwesigye.

Figures available with Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) indicate that 1.266,046 million people entered the country in 2014.

Vincent Mugaba, the public relations officer at Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) says there is need to appreciate tourism as a business.

Mugaba noted that UTB is carrying out wider tourism opportunities to increase business opportunities.

"We want to move away from recognising tourism as lucrative due to the usual tour companies and embrace many others like; leisure and recreation, business engagement among others," said Mugaba.

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