Uganda won three accolades at this year's the International Tourism Film Festival Africa for its film Explore Uganda - The Pearl of Africa brand.
Earlier this year, Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) launched the new brand identity, Explore Uganda, the Pearl of Africa that seeks to promote Uganda as the best destination for tourism.
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During an event held at Cape Town City Hall in Cape Town, South Africa, Uganda received two gold awards for the tourist destination country in Africa and the Grand Prix Award for Tourism destination country in Africa for its film Explore Uganda - The Pearl of Africa.
The film premiered by Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) is an invitation to the world to rediscover the beauty of the Pearl of Africa, Uganda which is the highlights reel of all that is rare, precious and beautiful in Africa for an adventure of a lifetime
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The awards sought to honour exceptional and innovative video content related to the tourism and travel industry, accessible on all continents and can be seen and used on various platforms. Commenting moments after receiving the award in Cape town, UTB Chief Executive Officer Lilly Ajarova said,
"It is an honour and our pleasure to receive these awards. Besides being a great motivation to our sector. We shall leverage the recognition to maintain high standards for ourselves in terms of sustainability, quality and experience. This will also add to our voice to continuously position Uganda as a destination of choice in Africa and internationally," said Lilly Ajarova, the Uganda Tourism Board CEO.
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She noted that UTB is also working with all stakeholders to rebuild and restart the sector as the global tourism and travel industry resumes.
The State Minister for Tourism, Martin Mugarra Bahinduka welcomed the accolades but implored the world to visit Uganda to experience the immense beauty it has.
"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.
The General Secretary of the International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals (CIFFT,) Hugo Marcos described Uganda's film as one of the most rated in the competition.
"The Explore Uganda destination video was one of the most rated films in the competition. It highlighted the uniqueness, authenticity and variety of Uganda's beauty and inspired the jury and the film viewers to visit Uganda now," he said.
The Uganda Tourism Board's Explore Uganda destination film was produced by LoukOut Films and directed by TBWA Uganda.
In Uganda, Tourism remains one of the fastest-growing sectors earning the country over USD$1.6 billion in 2019, and accounting for 7.7% of the national GDP.
