KAMPALA, Uganda – The synergy between the tourism and coffee sub-sectors will be instrumental to getting Uganda’s economy to middle income status, the country’s Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda said last week.
Rugunda was speaking as Chief Guest at the first annual Coffee and Tourism Symposium and Exposition at Golden Tulip Hotel in Kampala at the end of last week.
The symposium was organised by Coffee Tourism Uganda (CTU), in collaboration with the Uganda Tourism Board under Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities and Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.
“Coffee is a priority sector for Uganda, generating approximately 18 -20% of our foreign exchange over the past 20 years while contributing to the income of millions of rural households,” he stated.
On the other hand, he added that tourism is the highest foreign exchange earner and that combining the two sub-sectors will have a positive impact on the Ugandan economy.
“Coffee has the potential to become a commodity that changes communities through linking it to tourism. However, there is no coffee tourism without sustainability,” said the keynote speaker and renowned coffee-tourism expert, Glenn Jampol.
“Tourism is never about the price tourists pay but about the value. It’s not about more tourism but better tourism,” he added. Jampol is also the President and co-owner of Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation Resort and a celebrated international sustainable tourism professional.
