Uganda will increase its focus on growing the country as a preferred destination for the German market, with an intensified focus on conservation tourism.

This was announced by Ugandan State Minister for Tourism, Godfrey Kiwanda, at a press conference held on March 7 at ITB Berlin.

Germany is Uganda’s third-largest source market, and its growing interest in Uganda’s nature and cultural offerings has made the local tourism authorities intensify their efforts to grow this market.

Uganda is known for its gorilla and chimpanzee interactions, but is looking at further developing its cultural experiences. Germans loved to mix and mingle with locals, said Strategic Head of the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), Hanna Kleber.  Millennials like to mix with the locals and understand their culture and Germans also like to see developments in conservation.

The country already has a very strong focus on the conservation of its natural habitats and wildlife, and highlighted in the press conference was the dual benefits to Germans of visiting the country through ‘travel with a purpose’. “You are contributing to conservation when you visit Uganda,” said Kiwanda. “You’ve come to [our country] to conserve with us. Conservation is expensive, and we can only do it in partnership with you.”

Executive Director of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, Sam Mwandha, said 10% of Uganda’s 260 000 sq km was made up of national parks, “so we need conservation”. “We also need people to be able to live [alongside wildlife] – so 20% of fees charged to enter national parks goes to the communities.”

“The pearl of Africa (Uganda) is currently not packaged in a way that is easy for the German market to understand,” said Ugandan conservationist and CEO of the UTB, Lilly Ajarova. The country needed to improve on its marketing, she continued, and look to the younger market (millennials and Generation Z) and their high level of activity on social media. “By the end of the year we will increase digital activations,” she said.

Uganda would also look at increasing promotions of the destination in German train stations, and offer experiences of Uganda while on the train, to reach a greater portion of the market, said Ajarova.

“We want to make tourism everybody’s business,” said Kiwanda, continuing that the country would pursue more tourism partnerships and embark on more aggressive marketing and digital marketing campaigns.