Diana Kyaremera Museveni has emphasized the need for collaborative efforts to boost Uganda’s tourism industry, setting an ambitious target of attracting 5 million tourists within the next 10 years.
According to chimpreports.com, speaking to stakeholders, she highlighted the country’s vast tourism potential and the strategies needed to achieve this growth.
“Uganda’s tourism industry was greatly affected by the pandemic, but I believe we have managed to return to pre-covid numbers of about 1.5 million tourists, earning the country about $1 billion,” said Diana on Thursday night.
“Nevertheless, there is so much more room for improvement. I believe 5 million tourists is a realistic target for this country to achieve in the next 10 years,” the First Daughter added.
“Can you imagine how transformed our economy would be with this increase in tourist numbers?” wondered Diana, adding that she was happy to learn that tourism has become the second priority for the government for the next 10-20 years.
Diana was speaking at a dinner at Speke Resort Munyonyo to mark the end of the 62 Since 62 digital media campaign which aimed to showcase Uganda’s progress and potential since the country gained Independence from British colonialists in 1962.
The tourism promotion campaign saw several young Ugandans in Diaspora travel back home to record and disseminate their travel experience to the world.
Diana recalled a meeting with the promoters of the 62 Since 62 campaign at Entebbe State House where president Museveni mentioned the success of Spain’s vibrant tourism industry.
According to the Travel and Tourism competitive index, Spain is the second highest tourism earner in the world in 2023. It received 70 million tourists, which earned them $150 billion. Another top tourism earner is Japan, which received 30 million tourists in 2023 and earned $300 billion.
“On the African continent, Egypt is a top tourism destination bringing in $12.2 billion in revenue. South Africa is another top tourism earner, even though they saw a big drop in revenue due to the covid pandemic. Before the pandemic, they were receiving about $8 billion but after it fell to what forward $8 billion in tourism revenue,” said Diana.
Experts say Uganda needs to focus more on prioritising tourism product development with keen focus on product diversification; adopting sustainability and green tourism practices especially in face of increasing climate change and resultant negative impacts; prioritizing and investing more in research and development to guide, inform and drive evidence based planning and growth; ensuring balanced tourism development across the regions of Uganda; and focusing on developing domestic tourism, among other factors.
Diana said Uganda is a “country that has been blessed with so many talents – from its fertile soil, its warm tropical climate, its breathtaking scenery and wildlife to name a few. No wonder Winston Churchill termed it the Pearl of Africa.”
She, however, noted that, “we Ugandans have not fully taken advantage of this blessing” and urged the Ugandans in Diaspora to take the lead.
“Now, this is where you, young people come in, I’m sure, from your tours you have seen for yourself the untapped potential of this country. As you go back to the UK, you are now our tourism ambassadors. You need to go and get the word out. That was the whole point of this homecoming tour – to activate the youth to our tourism potential. I believe as we continue to work together, we can see this country’s tourism industry transformed,” said Diana.
Origin of the campaign
The idea of the campaign started with a dinner Diana had with Ugandan diaspora in London.
“I’m always happy to meet like minded Ugandans. So when they approached me with this proposal to use our Uganda influences based in the UK to help promote the country, I was intrigued,” said Diana.
“They organized a dinner in London, which I was pleased to attend. And I was impressed by the young people, because they had achieved some measure of success in their respective fields, and wanted to use their success to help promote our country,” she added.
“Thank you for holding our flag high. It is so refreshing to meet young people who are passionate about their country and want to give back rather than looking to the government to find all the solutions,” said Diana.
“Our future will be bright if more young people take on this mentality. Thank you for also bringing some of your friends home.”
Remittances
Diana, who has been promoting tourism for the past 16 years, said, “These young people represent the 150,000 Ugandans who are based in the UK. This community has been pivotal to the development of our country. And as already suggested, remittances from this community come up to 300 million Euros annually. This is the community of the UK.”
She further disclosed that, “The diaspora in the US is a smaller community of approximately 30,000 Ugandans. But even then they remit about $177 million annually. Currently the biggest Uganda diaspora community is in the Middle East, in countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which comes up to about 170,000 people. And they remit approximately $650 million annually. Altogether, the Uganda diaspora permits approximately $1.5 billion annually.”
She added: “This community (diaspora) has been critical to the development of our country, and we thank you for your contribution. Having said that, there is still more that you in the diaspora can do to promote the country. Hopefully, from your trip, you have seen what the country has to offer, especially in terms of tourism.”
According to Johnny Muhindo, the head of Diaspora Affairs Desk at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the diaspora remittances have helped to stabilise the Ugandan shilling and spur economic development.
Diana used the parable of the talents in the Bible to encourage young people to use their talents, understanding, skills and abilities to do great things for their country.
