Gorilla Tracking Safari News and Uganda Tours

Rwanda is a country of varied contrasts, with the mountainous north covered by volcanic protrusions and dense jungles hosting the beautiful mountain gorillas, and the rest of the country covered by gentle valleys, countless rivers, lakes and savannah grasslands.
Rwanda experiences unprecedented interest in its primates by wildlife lovers from across the globe. It is home to around one third of the 700 mountain gorillas left in the world and for several decades now, the country has been at the forefront of gorilla conservation. The endangered mountain gorilla still survives in the Virunga Mountains, a mountain chain linking Rwanda to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
Gorillas play an essential role in contributing to the positive image of Rwanda and act as ambassadors on the international scene by raising the profile of the country. These gentle giants also contribute greatly to Rwanda’s tourism industry.
The industry is a fundamental engine for the growth of the national economy and is driven by the mountain gorillas which have been, and remain, the main attraction in Rwanda, brining in over 20,000 visitors to the country each year.
Rwanda has enthusiastically received thousands of international visitors and appreciates the revenues generated through gorilla tourism. This has enabled the country to earn $80 million from Tourism in half year, surpassing its $68 million target.
The strong performance was attributed to the increase in tourists visiting the country. In its mid-term evaluation report, the Office of Tourism and National Parks (ORTPN) says that a total of 408,482 tourists have been registered so far, which is a 3.4% increase compared to the same period last year.
Looking at a bigger picture Rwanda is now an eligible bird watching destination with research being conducted to boost birdwatching. Consultations to introduce new products such as a boat on Lake Kivu to step up water tourism, and establishing Cave tourism in Musanze, are underway
Rosette Rugamba, the Director General of ORTPN, attributes much of the success in the tourism sector to government’s support. “While we are very proud of these results, we are aware that this has been possible by the support we have got from our government,” she said.
“We must celebrate but remain cognizant of the challenge and need to continuously improve the experience of visiting and being in Rwanda,” she added.
Tourism is a pillar for rapid economic growth within Rwanda and in many other countries like Uganda. Therefore, there is need to combine forces and cooperation in protection and conservation of Natural assets, and communal participation in promoting tourism and its links conservation issues.

For those who want to do a Uganda birding safari, gorilla tours, primate safari and Rwanda safari

Uganda’s diverse wildlife and beautiful scenery due to its unique geographical location has led to an increase in the number of tourists coming into the region. It is because of this that the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) is inviting stakeholders and investors to help build the tourism industry by investing in the protected areas.

The government of Uganda hopes that by inviting people to invest in the tourism which is seeing an increasing number of tourists flocking to this relatively small country with an abundant species of flora and fauna with unique landscapes and vegetation, the country will once again see itself gain its number one position as a leading tourism destination in Africa like it did in the 1960’s and 1970’s .

The past couple of years has seen a significant leap in the number of tourists visiting the country with an average of over 600,000 foreign tourists per year with about 1/6^th of them visiting the protected areas. This fetches Uganda a good amount of foreign exchange accounting for a huge percentage of the national budget. The tourism sector is fostering development creation of development, development of infrastructure like hotels and lodges and the revenue for households and communities around these protected areas.

The Executive Director of UWA (Uganda Wildlife Authority) Mr. Mpesa Moses, emphasizes the need to recapture the 1960’s and 1970’s glory in which a high number of tourists visited this beautiful country that Sir Winston Churchill once described as “The pearl of Africa”. This was at breakfast meeting designed to discuss the investment opportunities that exist in the tourism sector as well to find the best investment climate for those wishing to invest in the industry.

During this meeting Murchison falls national park, Queen Elizabeth national park, Mount Elgon, Lake Mburo and Kidepo valley were some of the protected areas singled out as having great investment opportunities. However, to sustain an increased growth there needs to be an investment in the tourism infrastructure according to the Executive Director.

There is not enough accommodation facilities in the protected areas at the moment and more so in the countryside in which most of these protected areas are found with a total number of only 700 beds in Uganda’s hotels and lodges found in the game parks. With over 1,000,000 tourists expected this year these are very few accommodation facilities, providing an opportunity for investors to capitalize on the need for accommodation for both budget and luxury accommodation. This will not only mean increased comfort for the tourists but also increased periods of stay by the tourists in these regions benefiting the local communities around these areas.

According to the minister for Tourism, Trade and Industry, incentives are being considered so as to enable investors put up more investments in these upcountry regions.

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