Tourism Minister receives 3 new destination film awards from UTB

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda Tourism Board officially handed over three international tourism film awards to Tom Butime, the Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities during a colourful ceremony held at the Sheraton Hotel on Friday last week.

The awards were handed over by the UTB Board Chairman, Daudi Migereko, in the presence of the UTB Board members, the CEO Lilly Ajarova who received the same in South Africa.

The three international tourism film awards were earlier this month received at a prestigious ceremony held at Cape Town City Hall, South Africa where Uganda was crowned this year’s Grand Prix and two times Gold award winner by the International Tourism Film Festival Africa for her film; Explore Uganda – The Pearl of Africa.

Butime said, “I recognize the efforts by everyone that enabled us to win these accolades. These awards are a recognition of our capacity to exercise our brainpower as a country; through this, we have demonstrated our creativity to the whole world in the production of the video, highlighting Uganda’s tourism attractions.”

He said the awards demonstrate that Uganda’s image is positive on matters tourism and entertainment and that “we are a leading tourism destination.”

Migereko pointed out that the awards are a major accomplishment for Uganda, coming a few months after the launch of the refreshed new country Destination Brand; Explore Uganda – The Pearl of Africa.

Ajarova applauded LOOKOUT Films that shot the video that was acknowledged by the Jury. She said, this portrayed amazing film production talent Uganda has including Scriptwriters, Directors and Producers.

Tourism remains one of the fastest-growing sectors in Uganda, having earned the country over USD$1.6 billion in 2019, and accounting for 7.7% of the national GDP.