Flora Onwudiwe
Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) has announced plans for the staging of this year’s Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE) 2020.The flagship travel and tourism trade expo is the first major event of the year for the board. It is the fifth edition of the yearly gathering, which is billed to hold between February 4 and 6 at the Speke Resort in Munuonyo.
According to a statement from UTB, the exhibition which brings together regional and international tour operators, travel agents, destination agencies, and other players in the tourism trade to network and facilitate tourism business, will expose the country’s tourism to the world and court tourists.
“POATE 2020 will integrate a business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) trade event format under the theme ‘Inspiring high value engagement to promote intra-Africa travel for leisure, business and adventure,’ aimed at raising Uganda’s profile as a preferred destination in the region and internationally,” said the Senior Public Relations Officer of UTB, Sandra Natukunda.
Also speaking on the expo, the country’s State Minister for Tourism Wildlife and Antiquities, Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, said: “Tourism has long been advocated as an alternative strategy for economic development and social reconstruction. The focus on Intra-Africa travel during this expo and beyond is aimed to increase the number of African arrivals to Uganda. With the revival of … Uganda Airlines, regional connectivity is easier and this among others will allow for intra-Africa travel to thrive.”
While the Chief Executive Officer of UTB, Lilly Ajarova, said that POATE is one of the key strategies for the promotion of Uganda’s tourism in the region and across the world. The expo facilitates key linkages through hosted buyers between tourists and domestic tour operators. Furthermore, it allows Uganda to showcase directly to various groups of hosted buyers who play a key role in the increment of visitor arrivals.
The hosted buyers’ expo will host over 70 hosted buyers from across Africa and the world while some of the slated activities included seminars and workshops, B2B meetings, and conferences as well as B2C engagements between the public and attending exhibitors and hosted buyers.
