The tourism sector in Uganda continues to flourish with significantly increasing numbers not just in terms of government revenue but as job creators to Ugandans after Agriculture.
According to Hon. Matia Kasaija – Minister of Finance, Planning & Economic Development, Tourism Development is one of the four key growth areas underpinned by the goal of ‘’full monetization and formalization of the economy, with a focus on increasing tourist arrivals by five-fold under the current spend-per-tourist and length-of-stay.
While addressing delegates at the 2nd annual tourism development programme review conference held at Hotel Africana in Kampala, Hon. Kasaija highlighted that the sector is doing relatively well and is expected to drive its export earnings base annually to US$50 billion by 2040. “Our main target is to generate annual export earnings of US$50 billion under vision 2040,”Kasaija said.
Kasaija also noted that Uganda’s Vision 2040 provides a 30 year-year strategic direction for the country and identifies tourism as one of the sectors with great potential to harness the country’s economic transformation. “A Transformed Ugandan Society from a Peasant to a Modern and Prosperous Country within 30 years.”
According to the tourism report, there was about shs2.9 trillion undertaken in the tourism industry in the period FY 2020/21 – 2024/25. Kasaija revealed that Uganda’s tourism sector recorded high resilience and recovery rate with a 82.6 percentage of pre-pandemic international arrivals.
“As a result of this sustained investment, Uganda’s tourism showcased exceptional resilience by achieving a recovery of 82.6% of pre-pandemic international arrivals, reaching 1,274,210 visitors by the end of 2023 compared to 814,508 in 2022. The compliance of tourism business with national and international service standards rose to 55% from 34%. International tourism receipts increased by 48% in 2023, rising from Shs2.57 trillion in 2022 to Shs3.819 trillion in 2023.”
Hon. Tom Butime – Minister for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities praised the Tourism development Programme as a testament to the government of Uganda’s concerted efforts to develop a programme approach to development planning.
Butime said, “The Tourism sector has recorded success with increased tourist numbers thanks to the country’s tourism promotional efforts, plus the addition of new flight routes thanks to Uganda Airlines as well as the Expansion of Entebbe International Airport and the improved ambiance of the Airport.”
He added, “Through our Conservation Efforts, we have continued to manage our 22 wildlife protected areas and supported 30 wildlife sanctuaries and four community conservation areas working very hard to tame human wildlife conflicts.”
According to Minister Butime, the Tourism Development Programme intends to implement clear achievable interventions aimed at realizing its objectives, including; promoting domestic and inbound tourism, increasing the stock of quality of tourism infrastructure, developing, conserving and diversifying tourism products and services, developing a pool of skilled personnel around the tourism value chain and ensuring Uganda is the place to visit and be in the final year of NDP3.
Organized under the theme: “Tourism and Peace,” the 2nd annual tourism development programme review conference is aimed at enhancing the contribution to the attainment of NDP111 objective of increasing production and productivity of key growth sectors among others.
