Mid this year, President Museveni announced the formation of a separate Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage breaking it off from Trade and Industry
Backed by the World Bank, the idea of merging the ministry of tourism with trade and industry was not welcomed. The preferred combination would have been wildlife and antiquities with natural resources or environment. This marriage caused outrage and serious concerns by the sector for not being consulted at all. Proof has surfaced in the recent years as the tourism portfolio persistently pulled the short straws when it came to budget allocations. Such occurrences have been leaving the tourist board with limited funds and the sector almost ignored.
After approving the potentiality of Uganda’s tourism to support itself and stand alone, the June 8th budget reading must have allocate the tourism industry more funds as the initial action now witnessed must of course be followed up by sufficient cash to go out and advertise Uganda to the world, like our neighbours Rwanda and Kenya. They have seriously demonstrated this and are very successfully in recent years. Uganda is expected to be turned into one of the most sought after tourism destinations in Africa. Uganda has different activities like gorilla tracking in Bwindi National park, chimpanzee trekking in Kibale national Park Murchison national park and Queen Elizabeth National park, wildlife safaris and the rich cultural. At the moment, the new government is granted the traditional 100 days grace period to reorganize itself and get into gear, but expectations will be high as fundamental change is at the moment on the way to drive Uganda’s tourism industry into the actual 21st century.
