Uganda Tourism Board steps up efforts to attract more Chinese tourists
According to Daudi Migereko, the chairman of Uganda Tourism Board, Uganda has decided to focus on China because of its growing economy within the Asian continent not forgetting its special interest in Africa. He made these remarks on Monday 12 November, 2018 and added that the government is in the process of hiring an international public relations firm to market Uganda in China and the public relations firm will be expected to work hand in hand with tour operators in China, airlines and other companies to promote Uganda’s tourism potentials since China is one of the major sources of tourists in the world according to Daudi Migereko.
Just like Uganda is already using public relations firms to market the country in Europe and the United States, the same criteria is being applied in China which has already kicked off at the Uganda’s embassy and its consulate in Guangzhou, China.
Migereko said that although there are no readily available figures to indicate the number of Chinese tourists who visit Uganda, the Chinese tour in big numbers and spend more time whenever they visit compared to tourists from other countries. The more time they spend, the more money our country will earn from them and they have toured all the other continents in the world and now they have special interest in Africa. They come as tourists but also as investors. So Uganda needs to up the game and ensure that we market Uganda as special country within Africa where they can come and enjoy their holidays.
These efforts will definitely increase the influx of Chinese tourists and currently the country earns an estimated 1.5 billion U.S. dollars annually from tourism and expects the figure to double by 2020.