Tourism emerged top foreign exchange earner for Uganda in the last financial year.

According to the 7th Annual Tourism Sector Performance Report, Uganda earned foreign exchange of $1.35 billion from tourism in financial year 2015/2016.

Remittances from abroad came second with $1.1 billion while long time traditional export, Coffee earned Uganda’s exchequer $400 million.

The report indicates that tourist arrivals grew from 1.15 million in 2011 to 1.7 million last year with 29% of visitors coming from overseas markets while the rest were from the continent.

According to the report, employment from tourism increased by 1.7% with more than a million people directly or indirectly benefiting from jobs.

Tour operator business grew by 23% in 2015/2016 with foreign clientele accounting for 98.87% of the business, with the rest being domestic tourists.

Uganda Tourism Board, CEO, Stephen Asiimwe, attributed the growth to increased interest from tourists for the East African country’s tourist attractions.

Asiimwe says in the financial year 2015/2016, the tourism sector received $1.3 million for marketing, while it borrowed more than $1.5 million from the World Bank.

He argued that for the Uganda Tourism Board to promote tourism effectively in overseas markets, the marketing agency requires 10 times its allocation of $1.3 million.