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New Dawn For Tourism: President Museveni Launches New Brand Destination, Explore Uganda
President Museveni shortly after Launching the Pearl of Africa Destination Brand at Kololo ceremonial grounds 21st Jan 2022
As the world starts to recover from the effects of the pandemic and opening up borders and skies to global tourism, Uganda, has refreshed its tourism destination brand promise, with the unveiling of a new brand identity that promises both domestic, regional and global tourists, an adventure of a lifetime.
The brand identity, Explore Uganda, The Pearl of Africa, was unveiled on Friday, 21st January 2022, by the country’s president, H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in Kampala, Uganda’s capital city.
The president was assisted by Col. Rtd Tom Butime, Hon Martin Bahinduka Mugarra and Ms. Doreen Katusiime, the Cabinet, State Minister and Permanent Secretary for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, respectively.
The Brand was developed by Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), Uganda’s tourism marketing and regulatory agency.
The Uganda Tourism Board Chief Executive Officer, Lilly Ajarova while explaining the new brand, said that it (brand promise) seeks to reemphasise Uganda’s rare and precious range of tourism attractions to the world, thereby earning destination Uganda competitive market share.
“Uganda is no doubt beautiful. Beautiful beyond measure. Yes, everyone knew that Uganda is and has always been the Pearl of Africa, – but there was a lack of clarity and consistency on, if Uganda is the Pearl of Africa- what pearls does it have to offer for each of the various travel segments and preferences,” she said, adding: “To win the marketplace; to achieve our Number One objective of “Sustainably Promoting Uganda as a Competitive Tourism Destination for Inclusive Development”
“it was therefore important that all stakeholders are aligned on what makes us the Pearl of Africa and how do we unpack that to the various travel markets/segments around the world,” she added.
“Explore, Uganda the Pearl of Africa is an invitation to our tourists- both domestic, regional and international to rediscover the magnificence of the Pearl. We are promising and inviting them to Explore Uganda, The Pearl of Africa, for ADVENTURE OF THEIR LIFETIME,” she said.
Before the new brand, there were a number of campaigns by various stakeholders, most of which were built around “Visit Uganda” as a call to action, something that Ajarova says did not appropriately capture the uniqueness of Uganda’s attractions.
“If you think about it, when you invite someone to visit you, you are simply asking them to check on you, maybe for a few days. But an invitation to EXPLORE is really about inviting someone to indulge themselves. To spoil themselves; to delve into; to deep-dive; to discover and rediscover- the depth, range and variety of attractions in the pearl,” Ms Ajarova further explained.
Speaking at the launch, President Museveni urged beckoned the world to Explore Uganda, The Pearl of Africa saying that, the uniqueness of her attractions guaranteed a better experience and higher return on investment.
He particularly extolled Uganda’s unique terrain, that made the country a “roof of Africa” where Lake Victoria sits, giving birth to the Mighty River Nile that flows through various Ugandan lakes on its way to Alexandria in Egypt.
He also highlighted Uganda’s abundant vegetation, temperate climate, variety of wildlife, strategic location on the Equator, cultural diversity, community tourism, peace and security, among others.
Museveni also said, Uganda’s unique place in anthropogeny as the birthplace of humankind should be studied, documented and sold as a tourist attraction.
Museveni welcomed the new brand promise and recognized Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) for the imaginative repackaging of Uganda’s tourism value proposition.
“Uganda is a very nice place, but it needed a group to talk about it; to inform the world,” he said adding: “I am very happy with the new group headed by our daughter Ajarova…. I salute that group. You can see they are putting a lot of imagination into what they are doing.”
“I congratulate the board by led by Hon. Daudi Migereko (Chairman) and others. I also congratulate the Ministry, under Col. Rtd. Tom Butime,” he said.
Rebuilding, Restarting Tourism and positioning Uganda as the most Competitive Destination in Africa, is all about an essential component of UTB’s Strategic Plan (FY 2020/21 – 2024/25) that seeks to “Sustainably Promote Uganda as a Competitive Tourism Destination for Inclusive Development” with a strategic goal to “sustainably increase the volume and value of tourism in Uganda.”
Under this plan, UTB is pursuing 5 major objectives, namely,
To Increase Tourist Arrivals, to Increase Investment and Job Creation in The Tourism Sector, increase The Competitiveness of the Tourism Destination, to Improve Collection and Access to Tourism Information, to Improve Internal Efficiency and Effectiveness.
From the above objectives, UTB, expects, by 2024/25 to work with all stakeholders to restart, rebuild and deliver to market tourism experiences.
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