The young people in Uganda have been urged to come up with initiatives and campaigns geared at promoting the country’s diverse tourism attractions.
The call was made by State Minister for Tourism, Godfrey Kiwanda Ssubi on Saturday while presiding over the Fish Festival at the Uganda Museum grounds.
Speaking at the event, the Minister highlighted some of the events such as the Rolex festival, fish festival and the Ekkula Awards that have been initiated by young people with an aim to promote Uganda. He asked the others to get involved in pushing similar ideas to celebrate Uganda’s unique endowments.
“Young people have come up with initiatives like festivals and Tourism Awards. I know we have challenges, but I call upon Ugandans to support the young people and their initiatives so as to fight the levels of unemployment,” the Minister urged.
“Young people should take on every opportunity because the government has created a conducive environment. This is the young people’s generation. Other generations went to the bush and fought, but this generation can’t blame anybody else for not taking the mantle”.
He advised them to use social media and the advantage of exposure they have over the elders to creatively promote Uganda.
Kiwanda described the fish festival as a success story which among others things helped to showcase the different kinds of fish that Uganda is gifted with.
“Uganda has several varieties of fish but many of us haven’t realized this. Personally, I saw electric fish for the first time today, it is from Lake Albert,” he said.
He said that events that involve local foods matter to the tourism sector and the Ministry since they promote culinary tourism.
“The festival is an opportunity to tell Ugandans about their own country so they can be able to tell the story about their country. Our fish is tasty compared to other fish elsewhere. This is the Pearl of Africa, let’s celebrate it,” Minister Kiwanda said.
He commended Perfect Events the organizers of the event, as well as Uganda Fisheries, Fish Conservation Association and Federation of Fish Organization of Uganda for mobilizing fish communities to take part in the festival.
The event attended by other stakeholders from tourism agencies, the private sector and the public was also characterized by music performances.
