Accessibility is very essential in a successful complete tourism system; this is because, travelers have to link up to diverse tourism sites and attractions driving along good road network. Leaving out the past times of civil wars and the emerged tourism sector, Uganda has currently picked up in tourism receiving flocks of travelers to various national parks and protected areas daily. Tourism has presently become a leading tourism exchange earner for Uganda bringing in more foreign exchanges for the country. Uganda’s tourism sector has also tried to export Uganda’s coffee and tea though with a small manufacturing base. Also through tourism, commercial quantities of oil were discovered in 2006 Uganda but have not yet started producing.
The government has done extreme in endorsing tourism for example by contracting with three international marketing firms so as to promote Uganda in Europe and North America. This has created some hope for the expanded tourism sector in Uganda.
However, despite the added population of travelers, Uganda’s targeted number of travelers has not been reached yet. Basing on the 2015 tourism statics by executive officer at the Uganda tourism board Stephen Asiimwe, Uganda received approximately 1.3 million travelers shared by all national parks. As of 2016, the number of tourist arrivals is hoped to increase to 1.5 million that will pull up the sector as a whole.
In the next five years (2021), the Uganda tourism board aims to triple the number of tourist arrivals to approximately 4 millions from the present 1.4 millions. The Uganda tourism board (UTB) is a body responsible for tourism marketing and new tourism development in Uganda.
The major tourism attractions in Uganda are all located in distant areas of the country. These include gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park, a bounce of wilderness in southwestern Uganda adjoining the Democratic Republic of Congo. Besides, there is queen Elizabeth national park in western and Murchison falls in the north western, together with kidepo valley national park in the extreme northeast among others.
Due to their remoteness, it has always been difficult for travelers to linkup from the airport to these national parks. Travelling to tourism sites in Uganda entails long journeys approximately a full day, which hinders low time travelers from visiting the national parks.
Therefore, it has been realized that with improvements in transport networks connecting to all national parks and protected areas in Uganda, there is a great re-assurance for the increased number of tourists. In order to cope up with this, the government has considered developing road networks as the first priority. The main roads to assimilate are those connecting to the national parks, regional towns and other tourism sites across the country.
In addition to improved roads, revamping small regional airports to provide alternative and faster routes for travelers to easily access the national parks, protected areas and other tourism sites all over the country.
In conclusion therefore, Uganda is the best tourism destination with great potential to increase the number of tourists on a daily basis. Improved road networks and other means of transport are therefore recommended for a steady growth. Once this is put in practice, Uganda will be assured of receiving the highest number of travelers more than any other country in the world.