In the 2019 statistics report released by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Uganda has been ranked the sixth most popular destination in Africa for hosting international conferences and events.
ICCA represents the world’s largest national meeting, conference, and event industry organization.
The rank is a four-point advance from the 2018 stu
dy where Uganda was in 10th place.
The rankings are based on the number of regularly held association meetings, rotating between at least three different countries and having 50 participants.
Uganda has consistently ranked in the top 10 African destinations for hosting international conferences and events over the last 5 years.
In 2019, according to the CEO of the Uganda Tourism Board, Lilly Ajarova, Uganda hosted 22 association meetings including the 64th Parliamentary Conference of the Commonwealth, 8th African Population Conference, Africa Now Summit, 4th African Judicial Dialog and 2nd African Primatological Conference Congress.
She clarified that all of these conferences attracted a variety of domestic, global, and foreign visitors and contributed to the rankings that currently position Uganda as Africa’s top meeting and event destination.
“Uganda had arranged and was expected to host a number of significant conferences and meetings due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020,” Ajarova said.
Among the international meetings and conferences scheduled to be held in Uganda, she mentioned the G77 Summit, Africa Climate Week, World Health Summit, CBR World Congress, and AfrAA Conference.
According to Ajarova, not all is lost as all of these conferences have been rescheduled to be held in 2021 pending confirmation of the dates as the pandemic is being investigated and travel restrictions renewed.
“As Uganda continues to expand its industry of Meetings, Opportunities, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE), our association meetings will increase in the next few years as the world normalizes in the post-COVID-19 period,” Ajarova noted.
The Uganda Tourism Board recently launched an initiative to tap into the country’s international conferences in a bid to increase the number of people visiting tourist attractions in the region.
“In the past, Uganda has hosted many international conferences where delegates fly into the country but leave without spending anything here because they are being transported from the airport by the organizers and the hotels booked for them,” said Bradford Ochieng, UTB ‘s deputy chief executive last year.
Through the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE), all government ministries, departments and agencies would be tasked by UTB to provide a list of conferences they would like to host or attend outside the country in order to prepare and plan how to sell Uganda as a top destination for tourists.
UTB hopes to tap into Uganda Airlines’ rebirth to ensure easy and convenient flights to Entebbe are open to visitors to Uganda.
Owing to its rich natural endowments, Uganda is also known as the Pearl of Africa, covering 241,040 square kilometres, and houses the largest number of tribes (64) and dialects per square inch.
Uganda also controls 39 per cent of Africa ‘s biodiversity while it also controls 50 per cent of Africa’s bird species and more birds than North America as a whole.
Uganda received 1.8 million visitors in 2018, up from 1.4 million in 2017, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics.
Uganda is home to more than half the world’s population of endangered mountain gorillas, and trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to see these gentle giants is one of the world’s top bucket list travel activities.
Uganda safari opportunities abound in savanna, forest, and wetland settings throughout 10 national parks, where visitors can come face to face with “The Big Five” – lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, and buffalo – as well as giraffe, zebra, chimpanzee, hippopotamus, crocodile, and more than half of all bird species found in Africa. All these give you an opportunity to go gorilla trekking, for a wildlife safari in Uganda and a birding watching tour Uganda.
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