Tourism Uganda asks for 22 billion shilling budget

 Ahead of the reading of the annual government budget in mid-June, the Uganda Tourist Board (UTB) has asked for a US$10 million fund allocation to more effectively sell the country abroad and attract more tourist visitors. UTB, or Tourism Uganda as it is known of late, has drawn up an action plan to penetrate new and emerging markets while also working existing tourist markets for Uganda and has put a price tag of about US$10 million on their intended activities for next year. While Uganda has recorded a steady growth in arrival numbers between 2000 and 2007, the last two years were difficult for the tourism sector as a result of the global economic and financial crisis, and numbers did reduce, a trend UTB now seeks to reverse to the upwards again.

Industry observers are divided over the timing of the budgetary demands, and although some mention was made during the Presidential Investors Round Table meeting last week, it is unlikely that the budget, which by now is largely ready, will tweak funds towards tourism at the expense of other sectors of the economy, which are in equal need of government support.