President Museveni has rooted for tourism as one of Uganda’s most powerful sectors, saying the country’s natural uniqueness makes it unmatched as a world destination.
‘We have got what Europe has, which is snow, but we also have what Europe does not have, which is a good climate. It’s time to act, and those who don’t see will be our enemy. The global value of tourism is 11.6 trillion US dollars. It has a lot of money compared to coffee, 22 times that is why a chased away Bakonjo who wanted to grow sweet potatoes in Murchison Falls National Park,’ Mr Museveni said.
Mr Museveni made the remarks during the celebrations to mark World Tourism Day, which took place in Mbale city at Mbale Secondary School playground on Sunday. The celebrations were held under the theme ‘Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to redesign’.
Mr Museveni said protecting the wetlands and forests in the region will give the region and country at large an advantage in tourism.
‘We need to take advantage of our latitude and altitude of our mountains to earn more from tourism. We are also near the equator,’ he said.
Bugisu sub-region is one of the sub-regions with unexplored potential tourism products that post very low earnings from the tourism sector.
The sub-region earns between Shs8 million and Shs10 million annually from tourism, compared to other regions like Murchison, which earns about Shs1 billion, yet the area is endowed with beautiful hills, waterfalls and culture.
Mr Museveni further urged Ugandans to protect the mild weather by protecting and conserving wetlands, adding that temperatures in different parts of the country are becoming hotter.
‘People in wetlands in Bugisu and Busoga must leave so that we protect the wetlands. We will make sure all people in wetlands shift to fish farming, which is more profitable,’ he said, adding that people in wetlands work hard, earn little, and worst of it, destroy the environment.
President Museveni also applauded Uganda Wildlife Authority for opening a zoo in Mbale to further accelerate promotion of tourism. ‘I thank UWA. They have woken up. They have opened up a zoo, and children will go there and learn,’ he said.
The zoo, which is situated in Mbale along the Mbale-Tororo highway, has wild animals such as lions, monkeys, leopards, zebra, waterbuck, an ostrich and peacocks.
On the four-acre model, Mr Museveni urged Ugandans who don’t have enough land to engage in other sectors, including services and manufacturing.
‘If you don’t have enough land for agriculture, that is not a problem. There are other sectors like services where tourism falls and manufacturing, which are outside agriculture,’ he said.
Ms Joyce Kidulu Matuka, the Mbale City mayor, asked President Museveni to address issues such as the establishment of an airstrip and the tarmacking of roads that lead to tourism sites.
‘This will support the growth of tourism in our region, which is being affected partly due to poor roads,’ she said.
Among the roads leaders want the government to tarmac are the Mbale-Bufumbo road, which leads to Wanale Ridge, and the Wanale-Nkokonjeru terrace route and Nalugugu- Mutufu-Budadiri road, which connects to Mt Elgon National Park.