Uganda named 5th best tourism exhibitor in Africa

Uganda the Pearl of Africa emerged the 5th best exhibitor in Africa at the annual ITB Berlin 2013 Travel and Tourism Exhibition, a world leading travel trade show in Germany. According to the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ms Mutagamba, the country was working on a programme to extend its tourism beyond nature to include culture and medicine. The theme for this year at the Exhibition was “Uganda the Pearl of Africa, your Eco-Tourism Destination”.  According to the minister, Uganda’s attraction, based on inquiries, were Gorillas in Bwindi Forest, the climate in Kibaale District and wildlife in Kidepo and Queen Elizabeth National Parks.

At the Exhibition, one of the exciting attractions was the Ndere cultural dancers who are said to have pulled crowds from different angles.

As a country, we have to improve on certain things like cleanliness and the road network. It looks like we have left cleaning our country to God and yet when tourists come, they want to see and visit clean places,” Ms Mutagamba said.

lTB Berlin exhibition is an annual event which takes place in March in Germany. In 2011, Uganda received more than a million foreign tourists and the tourism industry is said to be growing at 21 per cent annually and the German market growing at 10 per cent with more than 8,000 Germans having visited the country in 2011. With this, more emphasis is now put on promoting Sustainable tourism in Uganda as well as preserving the traditional Cultures.