All is set for tourism expo

Feb 15, 2017

The Pearl of Africa 2017 Tourism Expo, under the theme “Tourism is everyone’s business” will run from Friday 17th, February to Sunday 19th

Uganda's rising star in the world of tourism keeps shining brighter. And this trend is set to continue—at least going by the efforts of the Uganda Tourism Board who have organized yet another tourism expo.

The Pearl of Africa 2017 Tourism Expo, under the theme "Tourism is everyone's business" will run from Friday 17th, February to Sunday 19th, February at the Sheraton Gardens in Kampala.

"All is ready for the expo. Among several activities, we shall have a ministerial roundtable discussion that will feature the ministers of tourism from countries such as Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles, and Zimbabwe among others," Vincent Mugaba, the Uganda Tourism Board spokesperson told the New Vision.

"The climax of the expo will be the tourism excellence awards. Entrance to the expo is completely free, so I encourage Ugandans to come in large numbers to see what tourism opportunities exist in our beautiful country."

"For those of you who want to start a business in the tourism value chain, this expo is a wonderful opportunity for you to come and learn."

The expo is organized by the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Uganda Tourism Board and the Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project (CEDP).

CEDP is boosting initiatives to improve tourism in Uganda by providing support to UTB to contract firms to market Uganda as a tourism destination oversees; several buses are going to be purchase to boost domestic tourism.

Also under the project, the capacities of Ministry of Tourism, Wild life and Antiquities and Uganda Tourism Board are being strengthened through staff skills enhancements, tracking tourism sector performance through collecting, analysing and disseminating appropriate data, designing and implementing a lodging classification and grading system and implementing relevant policies, including the national tourism levy.

In 2015, global news giant CNN named Uganda as one of the top 16 emerging travel destinations in the world.

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