Mbale to host World Tourism Day as Bugisu seeks to boost tourism earnings

Mbale City will host this year’s World Tourism Day on September 27 as tourism authorities seek to raise earnings from the sector and showcase the largely untapped tourism potential of the Bugisu sub-region.

The region currently earns between Shs8 million and Shs10 million annually from tourism, compared with about Shs1 billion generated by the Murchison area, according to tourism officials.

The low earnings have raised concern among tourism stakeholders, despite Bugisu’s hills, waterfalls and cultural attractions.

The celebrations will be held at Mbale Secondary School grounds under the theme, “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism.”

President Museveni is expected to be the guest of honour.

Joseph Ssebunya, a tourism officer at the Ministry of Tourism, said the annual celebrations were previously held in Kampala but are now rotated across the country to promote tourism products in different regions.