Uganda targets Asian and East African tourists in its international PR strategy

By George Mangula

Having made considerable achievements in marketing attracting European and American tourists through international PR and Destination Marketing, Uganda in its strategy now wants to target tourists from China, Japan, Middle East and East Africa, according to state minister for tourism, Godfrey Kiwanda Ssuubi.

“This strategy will be expanded to include new markets in China, Japan, Middle East and East Africa. This programme for the first time will include Uganda as a domestic market,” Minister Kiwanda says.

The minister says, the “Unlocking Uganda’s Tourism Potential” initiative launched in August 2016 has been a success in terms of investment, awareness and that the number of domestic, regional and international tourists has increased tremendously.

He says the recent drive in which the ministry hired ‘Zari the Boss Lady’ to boost domestic tourism has achieved more than 100 percent its objectives. “The drive has been able to take all media houses into all our national parks and currently most of our media houses have enough footage on our tourism industry,” he said.

He says Tulambule Drive has made many Ugandans to admire their beautiful country and that many have made first trips as a result of the motivation. “The tourism is effective in generating foreign exchange and were expanding the Tulambule concept to target regional and international markets,” he says.

He says drives such as Twende Uganda Campaign, Destination Uganda Campaign and Pearl of Africa Tourism Campaign have been launched to boost regional and international markets.

Twende Uganda Campaign targets countries of East Africa such as Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi as well as South Sudan. The minister says Uganda has the best night life where musicians can stage shows to attract revelers from capitals like Kigali, Dar-es-Salaam, Nairobi, Juba and Bujumbura. “Now with the use of only national identity card Twende Uganda can be one of the most successful campaigns,” he says

Destination Uganda Campaign, the minister says, targets countries of South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt and Gabon among others that are outside East Africa. Pearl of Africa Tourism Campaign, he says. We must design packages that fit such counties in which some would be faith based tourism. For example the Uganda Martyrs is one of the best products to African Christian countries,” he says.

On the other hand he says the Pearl of Africa Tourism Campaign targets international tourists outside Africa.

The minister says Uganda’s tourism numbers have increased in the last 10 years from 844,000 in 2008 to two million in 2018. He says government hopes to add one million extra tourists to the current two million.

The minister says government will use the services of the current Miss Uganda and Miss World Africa Quinn Abenakyo to market Uganda as a tourist destination.