Uganda’s short film, Explore Uganda has won three major international tourism awards.
International Tourism Film Festival Africa awarded Uganda as 2022’s Grand Prix and a two-time Gold award winner for its film Explore Uganda – The Pearl of Africa at an event held in Cape Town, South Africa.
Earlier this year, Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) launched a new brand identity, called Explore Uganda, the Pearl of Africa to promote the country as the best destination for tourism in Africa.
Premiering New Explore Uganda The Pearl of Africa
The film, premiered by UTB, is an invitation to the world to rediscover the beauty of Uganda. For an adventure of a lifetime, the film highlights rare, precious, and beautiful things to do here.
Explore Uganda. Photo/Travel Daily
The International Tourism Film Festival (ITFF) Africa Awards are part of a global film festival. Other circuits include the New York Film Festival (USA), Cannes Film Festival in France, Terres Travel festival in Tortosa, Spain, and the Amorgos Tourism Film Festival in Greece.
The awards seek to honour exceptional and innovative video content related to the tourism and travel industry, accessible all over the world and can be seen and used on various platforms.
What Uganda Tourism Board Says
According to UTB Chief Executive Officer Lilly Ajarova, it was an honour for Uganda for this recognition.
She termed it ‘an honour and pleasure to get the awards adding that it is a great motivation to the country’s tourism sector. This means that they will leverage the recognition to maintain high standards ensuring there is sustainability, quality, and experience.
Ajarova added that the award for Explore Uganda adds their voice to continuously position Uganda as a destination of choice in Africa and internationally.
She noted that UTB is also working with various stakeholders to rebuild and restart the tourism sector as the global tour and travel industry resumes.
During the ceremony, the State Minister for Tourism, Martin Mugarra Bahinduka also welcomed the accolades and implored the world to visit Uganda for a lifetime experience of immense beauty.
According to the minister, the film highlighted the uniqueness, authenticity, and variety of Uganda’s beauty which inspired the jury and the film viewers to visit Uganda.
“I would like to thank the Jury for finding us worthy of these awards. As a country, we are happy to be associated with the International Tourism Film Festival and we welcome all of you to come and explore the Pearl of Africa as we continuously make it easy for tourists across the globe to visit us,”Mugarra said.
What is Explore Uganda Film All About?
Explore Uganda. Photo/PML Daily
The film seeks to increase arrivals in Uganda’s destinations as the global travel industry recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.
A call to action for travellers to discover the true essence of what Uganda offers the world underpins UTB’s new brand.
Hugo Marcos, the General Secretary of the International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals (CIFFT,) described UTB’s film as one of the most rated in the competition.
Marcos remarked that Explore Uganda destination video was one of the highest-ranked in the competition. The grandeur and diversity of Uganda’s landscape, the film watchers and the judges feel compelled to travel to Uganda.
Tourism remains one of the fastest-growing sectors in Uganda. The country earned over $1.6billion in 2019 and is accounting for 7.7% of the national GDP.
