East African States Set for Joint Tourism Promotion

The Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo had brought together EAC Secretariat, partner states tourism boards and the African Tourism Board (ATB)

Member states of the East African Community are setting for joint and regional tourism promotion and development, aiming to raise the number of visitors and economic development of the region.

The East African Community (EAC) Secretariat had noted that tourism contributes about 10 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the region of which 17 percent are foreign exchange earnings and about seven percent is the counted-on employment in various tourist services.

Director of Productive Sectors at the EAC, Mr. Jean Baptiste Havugimana confirmed that during the just-ended seventh edition of Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo held at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort in Uganda.

The Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo that was staged in late April this year, had brought together the EAC Secretariat, all partner states regional tourism boards and the African Tourism Board (ATB).

The four-day event was officially opened by the Ugandan Minister for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Colonel Tom Butime.

The Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo is a tourism event organized by the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) every year.

The expo had brought together tourism stakeholders and other service providers in tourism, targeting to meet new clients, network and discuss business deals with potential regional and international buyers.

The seventh edition of the Pearl of Expo had attracted over 150 exhibitors and more than 100 hosted buyers and media from different tourist source markets, including the US, UK, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Poland, South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria among others.

The African Tourism Board was represented by its Executive Chairman Mr. Cuthbert Ncube who as well, participated at various events and activities during the Expo.

Together with ATB ambassadors, Mr. Ncube visited various tourist attractive sites in Uganda including the Chimpanzee Island on Lake Victoria.

ATB has been co-operating with the East African regional states in tourism development and promotion through participation to key events in East Africa and which is now an upcoming region for intra-Africa tourist destination.

The EAC Secretariat had encouraged partner states to participate in tourism promotional events organized by each and every partner state.

ATB has been the key participant to each national and regional tourism Expo through its Chairman, Mr. Ncube among its other brand ambassadors.

In his opening remarks to the Pearl of Africa Expo, the Ugandan Minister for Tourism Colonel Butime (Retired) had expressed his appreciation on behalf the government and people of Uganda to all the exhibitors as well as hosted buyers and media for attending the event.

He said that Uganda was endowed with unique and diverse attractions that appeal to the international, regional and domestic travelers.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Tourism Board, Dr. Lily Ajarova, said that Uganda and other EAC partner states are keen on promotion of sustainable and responsible tourism.

Director of Productive Sectors at the EAC, Mr Jean Baptiste Havugimana thanked the government of Uganda for inviting the EAC Secretariat and all the partner states to participate at the Expo in the spirit of the EAC integration.

Mr. Havugimana disclosed that the EAC Secretariat and the National Tourism Boards have been supported to participate at the Expo through facilitation of partner states’ delegates and procurement of exhibition booths.

The German International Cooperation Agency, GIZ, also supported the Expo through a Gold Sponsorship package.

He said that the EAC Treaty attaches a lot of importance to the tourism sector owing to the role it plays in the socio-economic development of the region.

Mr. Havugimana informed the participants that the EAC was currently implementing the EAC Tourism Marketing Strategy 2021 to 2025 with the support of GIZ through various interventions including joint tourism promotions.

The EAC regional tourism campaign branded “Tembea Nyumbani” or “Visit your Home” targets development of intra-regional tourism drive that would attract the East Africa citizens to visit each country within the region.

EAC Secretariat is as well, undertaking development of minimum standards for tourism service providers mostly tour operators, travel agents and tour guides together with classification criteria for regional tourist hotels.

“Currently, the process of developing a Regional Tourism Destination Brand for EAC as a single tourism destination has commenced and is expected to be concluded by the end of this year”, Mr. Mr. Havugimana said.

Implementation of all those interventions will see the region surpass the 7.2 million international tourist arrivals recorded in 2019 before COVID-19 pandemic, he said.