The Ambassador of the Russian Federation, H.E Vladen Semivolos on Friday held a meeting with Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) CEO, Lilly Ajarova where they discussed enhancing cooperation to attract more tourists from Russia.
Ajarova who was accompanied by Claire Mugabi, the head of marketing at UTB, also discussed “opportunities for bilateral cooperation” in the area of tourism, according to the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Uganda.
UTB is Uganda’s tourism destination marketing agency mandated to promote and market Uganda across the region and internationally, promote quality assurance in tourist facilities through training, grading and classification, promote tourism investment, support, and act as a liaison for the private sector in tourism development.
During the meeting, the most prominent developments in the tourism sector in Uganda were reviewed in addition to the efforts made by UTB and Ugandan state to push more incoming tourist movement to the country from various tourist markets, including the Russian market.
They also reviewed the noticeable growth witnessed by the volume of demand for the Ugandan tourist destination from international markets in general, and the remarkable increase in the tourist movement coming to Uganda from Russia.
The meeting came at a time when Uganda is doubling efforts to attract more tourists from outside Africa.
In 2020, Uganda received over 473,085 tourists with over 421,169 tourists (89% of all arrivals) from the African region ahead of Europe, Asia and North America.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife & Antiquities and Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), the tourist arrivals in 2021 were registered at 512,945.