The Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) Chief executive officer, Lilly Ajarova has applauded the government, stakeholders in the tourism sector and individual travelers for supporting industry growth in Uganda.
In a new year message shared on her official Twitter handle @LillyAjarova, the UTB boss said that the year 2022 was full of ups and downs for the tourism sector in Uganda as the country is recovering from two years COVID-19 lockdown.
Ajarova notes that the launch of “Explore Uganda”, the new destination brand for Uganda was a great way to start the year and the change experienced with the launch has been significant, a clear indication that the time was ripe for this change.
“On the domestic tourism front, there was an increased interest among Ugandans to Explore their own country and experience the unique tourism products it has to offer,” Ajarova said.
She adds that, the tourism sector continues to grapple with a number of challenges expressing efforts to successfully navigate through.
“As we continue with the great job of marketing Uganda, we can’t fail to look at what the future looks like for us,” she noted.
“From paying more attention to accessible travel to having more women in leadership positions in the travel sector. From paying attention to Uganda’s gastronomy scene to rethinking tourism & recognising the power of local travellers to keep the sector’s economic recovery going,”
The tourism marketing board CEO also reveled the board’s new year plans to focus on improving standards and quality of services offered, attracting more investments in the sector and growth of MICE tourism.
She says, “Even as we continue to explore ways of expanding to more International markets, we shall continue being intentional about growing the domestic tourism numbers because we believe charity begins at home.”
Happy New Year 2023