Find Tourism and Travel partners in Uganda
- Overview
- Investment
Overview
The travel and tourism industry in Uganda contributes around 9% of Uganda’s GDP (2011) according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). The WTTC ranked Uganda 88th out of 181 countries worldwide in terms of relative contribution of tourism to the economy (2011). This figure was set to rise by 4.2% in 2012. The WTTC estimates that the sector accounts for 7.9% of total employment in the country with around 522,500 jobs both directly and indirectly linked to tourism. This figure is set to rise with the growing industry (2011). The country received 946,000 visitors in 2010 and visitor exports accounted for 22.6%.
Investment
Tourism is a growing industry in Uganda and is centred on Uganda’s wildlife and landscapes. The Uganda Tourism Board, which promotes tourism to Uganda, the Uganda Wildlife Authority, which manages the national parks and wildlife, and the Ministry for Tourism, Trade and Industry are the key public bodies in the sector. The Ministry announced development of regulations for tour guides, ecotourism development, hotels and restaurants. Uganda is home of the source of the Nile and the northern shore of one of the most famous lakes in Africa, Lake Victoria. The country is also famed for its primates and many safari holidays are focused on trekking and spotting this kind of wildlife. Other big game and big cat safaris are also popular. Given the interest in wildlife holidays ecotourism is a burgeoning sector as is luxury travel and safaris. The main focus of tourism marketing is on western travellers with cultural tourism aimed at both individual travellers and family groups.
Investment in the travel and tourism sector in 2011 was UGX494.5bn, constituting 4.8% of total investment. This was expected to rise by 3.1% in 2012, and then continue to rise by 6.1% pa over the following ten years, reaching UGX922.2bn by 2022.