Kampala, Uganda | Julius Businge | Uganda is showcasing faith, adventure and film tourism at the Akwaaba Africa Travel Market in Nigeria which started on September 22 and ends today September 24, 2019, according to a media release distributed by Uganda Tourism Board dated Sept.20.
Team Uganda is led by the Minister of State for Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities, Godfrey Kiwanda.
It said that Uganda will leverage faith-based tourism as it participates in this year’s edition of Akwaaba which will be under the theme “Uganda; the land of the martyrs.”
“Uganda has invested heavily in renovating religious tourism sites and created religious trails; which now allows tourists to visit the sites all year round,” the release reads in part. It adds that the Uganda Martyrs, for instance, are very powerful world over and continue to attract a large number of tourists to Uganda every year.
Kiwanda said that the Uganda Martyrs Namugongo Minor Basilica remains probably Africa’s largest faith destination; and Akwaaba is one of many platforms to reach Africa's largest Christian population.
UTB CEO, Lilly Ajarova, while commenting on Uganda’s participation said that focus at Akwaaba would be on religious tourism.
She said that West Africa has the highest number of Christians (Catholics) in Africa; and the story of the Uganda Martyrs is one “we believe would enrich their faith but also queue visitors to the rest of what Uganda has to offer.”
Akwaaba will be the platform to which we sell Uganda’s faith-based tourism, Uganda as an adventure country and our potential for film, Ajarova explained.
At a continental stage, Africa remains Uganda’s biggest source market for tourists recording a total of 1.1million tourist arrivals in 2018.