Minister Mugarra Launches ‘Explore West’ Campaign to Boost Domestic Tourism 

The Ministry of Tourism Wildlife and Antiquities, with its agencies, has launched the ‘Explore West’ Campaign a move to increase Domestic Tourism.

The campaign was launched by the Minister of State for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Martin Mugarra Bahinduka, at the Kampala Tourism Information Center at Sheraton Hotel in Kampala.

Mugarra said after a successful ‘Explore Elgon’ they decided to take on the western part of Uganda, with more regions in the pipeline.

The 5-day Explore West tour is scheduled for April 12th to 16th 2023. He asked Ugandans to turn up in big numbers and join the campaign.

He said if Ugandans embrace domestic tourism like it was during the Covid times, the industry will be sustained.

“Covid-19 taught us that the only way we can have a resilient tourism sector going forward is to focus on the domestic market and we are seeing the achievements. We have seen last year where our parks registered the biggest visits and the domestic tourists surpassed the foreign visitors,” he said.

He added: “We believe if this continues, we shall be able to sustain the sector even when we have limitations.”

Meanwhile, Mr Vivian Lyazi, the Assistant Commissioner of Tourism at the Ministry, said the Explore West campaign will boost and spotlight new attractions in the west.

He revealed that the campaign will be headlined by Ugandan influencers and Entertainment Gurus like Patrick Salvador Indringi, kickboxer Golola Moses, and the Miss Tourism team, among others.

He also noted that during the campaign, the team will be able to visit Places like Igongo Museum, Eclipse Monument in Biharwe, Mugaba Palace in Mbarara, the crater lakes in Rubirizi, Kyambura Gorge, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Sempaya Hot Springs in Semuliki, Tooro Palace, Kilmbe Mines and the Nyamwamba Valley, Amabere ga Nyinamwiru, Kirenzi Hill, among other attractions.