Africa-Press – Uganda. “We brought the ministry closer to the people. By the time we joined the ministry, tourism was regarded as something for foreigners. Through various programmes such as Talambule, we exhibited big numbers of Ugandans visiting national parks. We have also built more numbers internationally.
By the time I was given this ministry, we used to host about 700 people annually. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, we had hit almost two million visitors per year. I was given this ministry when we were earning $700m per annum but by the time the pandemic broke out, we had achieved $1.6b.
“We also hired public relations to do marketing for the country in the UK, US, China, Japan, India, and Germany. We have more than 12 destination firms. We also bought a minimum of 10 buses. We have stabilised the industry because there used to be a lot of issues between local agencies and the ministry.
To the new team
“I pray for them because they are beginning at a time when we have a very big challenge of Covid-19. But they have to plan very well to have their plans well executed,” Mr Godfrey Kiwanda, the former State Minister of Tourism, said.
