Uganda Tours, Uganda Safaris, Gorilla Safari News , Uganda Travel & safari

Residents of Arua are beginning to position themselves to tap into the windfall of tourism in the area after the Minister of State for Tourism Serapio Rukundo said the government plans to revitalize tourism in the area.

Tourism in the area known for its cultural sites suffered a setback during the two decade rebel-insurgence in northern Uganda. The district now depends on small-scale enterprises and other social services for revenue.

The Arua District Chairman, Mr Andama Ferua, said the political turmoil and lawlessness which prevailed in the district in the 1980 did not spare the tourism industry. “We have disorganised activities of tourism but we are yet to see an impetus from government to improve the sector,” Mr Ferua said. “We are sadly losing much income from tourism.”

Cultural sites were vandalised, and other potential tourism sites such as mountains were not properly maintained. The tourist areas lack international class amenities such as modern hotels, restaurants, and entertainment. The frail tourism industry has in the past attracted attention of scholars and researchers but mainly for academic purposes.

However, the industry is poised for takeoff as the government seeks funds to rejuvenate the once prosperous industry beginning with the hospitality sector. Mr Rukundo said the government was committed to invest in the lucrative business which has many opportunities. He said there was urgent need to construct hotels and lodges that match international standards. “We are to receive funds to start constructing modern hotel and lodge facilities in areas for tourists. We realised we lost much income from tourism. We are now awake,” he said.

The government’s impending investment in tourism comes at a time when Arua is quickly turning into a strategic town to do business in Congo and southern Sudan. “With boom in business with Sudan and DRC, tourism can be an important resource for us,” Mr Ferua said.

The district’s major tourist attraction is Ajai Game Reserve, which covers an area of about 15,800 hectares. Ajai Game Reserve was initially gazetted as a White Rhino sanctuary in 1937 and therefore likely to attract tourists if properly marketed.

Arua District also is home of a 50km-strech of Albert Nile. Other potential tourism sites include rivers Enyau, Ala, Ora, and Kochi, which drain into the Nile in the east and also numerous streams. The area is also rich in fauna, which includes elephants, hippopotamus, buffaloes, monkeys, baboons, and different bird species. By 1981, some of the animals such as the white rhinoceros, elephants and hartebeest, were reduced to near extinction.

The government faces an uphill task as it seeks to promote tourism in the area. Arua District for instance does not have collective and coordinated approach to promote and market tourism in the area. And the area lacks professional travel agents and tour firms that could spur tourism in the area. The Uganda Wildlife Authority, a body charged with protecting wildlife reserves in the area, is poorly funded and officials often complain of lack of resources to deal with poachers who often target white Rhinos.

Arua Rural Community Development (Arcod), a local NGO, says poachers have taken advantage of the neglected game reserve to carryout severe poaching and some animals have become or are near extinction. “The wildlife habitat has been disturbed. In some areas it has led to complete loss of habitat forcing animals to migrate,” a message posted on the NGO website reads. “People should also be educated about the advantages of conserving wildlife so that they are not alienated from their conservation.”

According to UWA officials, the game reserve currently hosts hippopotamus, antelopes, Cane Rats, Baboons, birds and reptiles bushbucks, warthog, and monkeys, which are of little interest to tourists. Mr Ferua said the game workers do not have the necessary equipment to protect the animals.

He said there was need to have to restock Ajai Game Reserve with white Rhinos if the government is to realise the full potential of tourism in the area. He remains optimistic that since peace has returned to the area, the wildlife resource will recover from the ecological imbalance.

Mr Ferua said if the tourism industry takes off then the income realised could be used in the development of the district. The district is entitled to get 10 per cent of the revenue from tourism.

Uganda Safaris

BY Tanah Hadijah

Passengers itinerant by Brussels Airlines amid Europe, East Africa and Southern Sudan can now use a single electronic ticket to link to their destinations by Air Uganda via Entebbe International Airport.

The possibility follows the signing of an Interline Agreement by the two airlines in June, to ease air travel in East Africa as well as increase the safety of passengers’ cargo in the region. An interline Conformity is a voluntary commercial contract between individual airlines to handle passengers traveling on journeys that require multiple airlines.

Proclaiming the deal to journalists in Kampala, Mr Peter De Waal the Chief Executive Officer Air Uganda said that the concord will facilitate both passenger and cargo movement, from Juba, Kilimanjaro and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Nairobi to make their connections from Entebbe Airport to European destinations. He added that this is the first step for Air Uganda to be competent to transport international passengers and to sell tickets to final destinations in Europe.

Mr Pierre Declerck the General Manager Brussels Airline Uganda added that the enterprise will increase the number of flights on which Brussels’ clients in Uganda can fly to European destinations, to six days from four days. “On days where we don’t fly via Entebbe, it means that instead of offering four flights out of Entebbe, we now offer two more flights (on Tuesday and Saturday) via Nairobi because of Air Uganda.” Passengers using the duo’s services will also be accorded special offers on certain dates according to a separate agreement between the two.

In addition to more routes, Mr Declerck said the agreement will allow cargo clients to forward their express shipments more easily between the two airlines. This also means that passengers from Europe carrying up to 46 kilogrammes of cargo to their East African destinations and southern Sudan will be able to transfer them on a single bill to Air Uganda which usually permits 20kg. “We are going to have one airway bill for goods and passengers. So, passengers, and cargo shippers will feel very secure because their cargo will be loaded direct to Air Uganda.”

Apart from extending convenience to their clients, the two airlines have boosted Entebbe’s road to revolving into a regional hub for many international airlines flying to East Africa, because of its strategic location in the centre of five countries.

It is cheaper and shorter for passengers traveling from Europe to destinations like ,Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Southern Sudan, and Northern Tanzania, to connect to their final flights through Entebbe than flying to Nairobi first, in circumstances where they need interline services. “The development of Entebbe Airport as an international hub is very important especially because the Nairobi airport is completely saturated and Entebbe is giving a very good opportunity as an alternative to passengers,” Mr. De Waal added.

Already Middle East’s Qatar Airways has indicated that the Doha-based airline is also planning to position itself in Uganda on the same premise. In interview with the Daily Monitor last month Ms Judy Gow its Sales Development Manager Eastern and Southern Africa said: “We are looking at Uganda becoming a hub for East and Central Africa. So coming online can only be better,” she said.

The Uganda and Qatar governments have since signed bilateral agreements allowing Qatar Airways to land at Entebbe. Qatar Airways currently flies to Nairobi and Dar es Salaam and in the process of finalizing its interline agreement with Air Uganda, to facilitate the movement of passengers from the Middle East and the Far East, to Kampala and vice versa. Ms Gow said the airline will start flying to Uganda anytime between 2009 and 2010. This is an important step to East Africa’s tourism industry for it will increase the inflow of tourist.

By TANAH HADIJAH

EAST AFRICA TRAVEL NEWS

Cuthbert Baguma Balinda, the assistant commissioner for registration and inspection in the tourism ministry, said different schools of thought had preferred the Pearl of Africa brand over Gifted by Nature.
Mr Baguma said that the review will target public and private sectors who will share their experiences.
The Gifted by Nature brand was registered in 2006 as a limited company to manage all activities pertaining to branding Uganda.

It was followed by a six- month $2m (sh3.2b) promotion and advertising campaign for Uganda as a tourist destination on American-based Cable News Network (CNN) television.

Most schools of thought still rank Sir Church hill’s brand ‘Pearl of Africa ’as the best brand for Uganda.

By Tanah Hadijah

Uganda travel News

Today the 9th of October, people will gather at Kololo airstrip to celebrate Uganda’s 46th Independence day.

If Uganda is indeed gifted by nature, then one of the greatest gifts that our ‘Pearl of Africa’ is blessed with is the extraordinary diversity of its plant and animal population.

Countries seldom get any greener. At least 25 per cent of Uganda is covered by forest and grassland. Each of the more than 10 forests, big and small, which make up this intricately-woven carpet of forest and grassland, has its own unique attribute.

In the 312-square kilometer Mabira forest alone, Uganda boasts one of the most diverse forests on the continent.

Mabira forest in central Uganda is home to a host of plant and animal species, including 312 tree and shrub species, 199 species of butterflies, 287 species of birds, which constitute about 30 per cent of the country’s bird population and about 20 per cent of the small animals, according to statistics from Uganda Safaris Guide.

Records at the Uganda Wildlife Authority also indicate that Uganda boasts of seven of the 18 plant Kingdoms that are on the African continent, the highest representation by any single country. The country is also inhabited by 343 different species of mammals. Even from such a large crop of animals, there are those that stand out as unique to Uganda.

More than half of the world’s mountain gorilla population is found in Uganda. The gorillas, of which only about 650 are left in the world, is an endangered species which is only found in two other countries; Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The tree climbing lions in parts of south western Uganda are also a marvel.

Uganda is home to at least 1008 bird species, nearly half of the species known on the African continent, and more than 10 per cent of species identified across the world. Few, if any, other countries have such a variety and diversity of bird species.

They include: bulbul, weaver, crow, shrike, heron, egret, ibis, guinea fowl, mouse bird, lourie, hornbill, pigeon, dove, bee-eater, hoopoe, darter, lily-trotter, marabou stork, kingfisher, fish eagle, kite, and the crested crane, which is also the national emblem.

Sitting astride the equator, Uganda enjoys both the savannah and rainforest zones, which make a conducive environment for the different animal and plant species. From dense tropical forests to the long, lazy savannah grasslands, the diversity of Uganda’s flora is only matched by that of our animals; chimpanzees, leopards, rhinoceros, lions, elephants, crocodiles, hippopotamuses, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, antelopes of various types, gazelles and topis. We even have our own Uganda kob.

Over the last few years however, Uganda has lost much of its flora and fauna to neglect by both ordinary citizens and the government. Already, Uganda’s total forest cover has fallen by nearly 10 per cent since the country got independence in 1962. Environmentalists warn that the country could lose up to 9 per cent of its present forest cover in the next 30 years.

The recent outcry by ordinary Ugandans when the government wanted to give away a third of Mabira forest showed that Ugandans do care about their country. It is a mentality every Ugandan ought to make a part and parcel of their everyday life if we are to preserve the numerous gifts that nature has bestowed on our country.

The Rwenzori Mountains lie along the western border of Uganda and rise to a height of 5,100 metres. They comprise the legendary “Mountains of the Moon”, a World Heritage Site.

According to data obtained from the Ministry of Tourism, Uganda is known for the vegetation, ranging from tropical rainforest through alpine meadows to snow; and for their animal population, including forest elephants, primate species and numerous endemic birds.

One zone is known for its six-metre/20 foot high heather covered in moss, and another for it

It is located in a gorgeous national park, rarely visited. There is stunning trekking and optional mountaineering on these mountains.

various tour operators do carry out tours to all these destinations and trustme , you will nevr regret taking a tour through Uganda’s natural and cultural beauties.

By Tanah Hadijah

Uganda Tours