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Uganda and Queen Elizabeth National Park top tourist attraction in East Africa
Uganda and Queen Elizabeth have been listed by Lonely Planet as one of the region's valued destinations and attractions tourists should look out for in 2016.
Other countries in East Africa (EA) named were Kenya and Tanzania.
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In their latest publication, Lonely Planet, the world's largest travel guide publisher, EA was ranked third on the 10-annual hot-list of wallet friendly destinations where tourists should go in 2016.
The publication reads: "... Africa is a massive continent so you'll be doing yourself and tourism in East Africa a favour if you take advantage of the cracking deals on offer to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and the rest of the region."
It further mentions the region's attractions such as gorilla tracking, Rift valley scenery and the squeaky-sand beaches as some of the world's great wonders tourists should experience.
The magazine said at Queen Elizabeth National Park, tourists could look out for tree-climbing lions and elephants and more than 600 different bird species.
"... This is the place to come for guaranteed sightings of a huge range of African wildlife, a real-life geography lesson in the difference between savannah, wetlands and forest and the chance to do all this without having to share it with too many of your fellow humans," the magazine mentioned.
In an interview with Daily Monitor on what the listing means to Uganda and East Africa in general, Uganda Tourism Board chief executive officer Stephen Asiimwe said: "This is a vote of confidence for Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania because we complement each other."
He added that a lot of effort has been put in the Destination Uganda campaign to ensure the country becomes the best destination and results have been accolades being won.
"Our teams have been very active mapping out product development to promote Uganda beyond wildlife but also look at our unique attractions like tribes, religious tourism, and quality assurance of facilities to have acceptable standards countrywide," he said.
Mr Joshua Ssali Ssentongo, a marketing consultant at VC Business Solutions, a tourism marketing firm, says such credible recommendations, strategically hyped shall see tourist numbers increase.
"This is going to happen especially during the peak summer season after the elections providing a much needed forex boost in the economy which positively trickles down to everybody," he said.
Mr Geoffrey Baluku, a member of the East Africa Tourism Platform, said: "This will boost our image and reaffirm Uganda as a tourism destination."
According to latest statistics, the tourism sector contribution to the economy was Shs5.6 trillion (7.9 per cent of GDP) in 2013 and rose to Shs6.4 trillion (9.9 per cent of GDP) in 2014.
This is forecast to rise by 8.0 per cent in 2015.
Credit: Allafrica.com
