Department of Tourism Development Mandate The department is responsible for policy formulation, planning, coordination and development of strategies for sustainable tourism development. Functions The functions of the department are to: i) Initiate and formulate policies, legislation on Tourism development; ii) Formulate and coordinate implementation of regulations on international conventions, treaties and agreements under the tourism development sector; iii) Initiate and coordinate development of service standards, and oversee enforcement of these for quality assurance on Tourism; iv) Development and issuing of guidelines to hotels, tour operators, travel agents and eating houses; v) Coordinate with relevant law enforcement agencies to enforce compliance with national laws, international Conventions, Treaties and Agreements under the sector; vi) Market and promote Uganda as a tourism and investment destination; vii) Collect, compile, analyse, and disseminate information on Tourism for national decision making; viii) Supervise operations of the statutory bodies under the Tourism Sector; ix) Liaise with International organisations and any other relevant entities involved in tourism development; x) Diversify tourism products and markets; xi) Develop specialised skills for tourism development; and xii) Monitor and evaluate the implementation of the policies, legislation, national plans and guidelines on Tourism. Statistics International Arrivals and Departures Tourist arrivals for the year 2009 closed at 1,084,000 compared to 1,163,000 in 2008 translating to a decrease of about 5%. The total arrivals and departures in the country have steadily increased over the 5 year period (2005- 2008) but slightly declined in 2009. Tourist Arrivals in Uganda The total number of tourists into the country has steadily increased from 468,000 in 2005 to 844,000 in 2008. but in 2009 there has been a 5 percent decline in the number of tourists to 817,000. It has been observed that a size able (38%) number of overseas visitors into Uganda pass through Entebbe International Airport and in the five year period from 2005 -2009 it has handled 247,000 tourists on average. There was a 24 percent decline in the number of tourist arrivals through Entebbe International Airport. Out of the 817,000 tourist in Uganda in the year 2009, about 50 percent traveled to the country to visit friends and relatives while 21 percent traveled to Uganda for business purposes and about 16 percent traveled to Uganda for leisure and holiday. Visitors to National Parks The National Parks offer different tourism activities that attract international and local visitors. These activities include Gorilla tracking, nature guided walks, village walk, butterfly watching, bird watching and rare fauna and flora species. The highest numbers of visitors to the national game parks are Non-resident foreigners which contribute to about 61,000 visitors, followed by Students from Uganda (42,000) and reasonable number of citizens of Uganda (30,000) Accommodation Statistics: The average room occupancy rate for 2009 was 29.9 percent which implies that on average every month 29.9 percent of the rooms were occupied. In the same year on average every month 25.0 percent of the bed spaces where utilized. Generally the room and bed space utilization in the major hotels is below 50 percent since the year 2005 to date. Useful Publications/Links http://www.ugandahotels.org Tourism Policy Kabarole District Tourism development Plan Kasese District Tourism Development Plan Ramsar Sites Uganda Tourism Act Tour and Travel Guidelines Schedule 2 Application Form
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