Uganda receives 3 destination international tourism film awards
Drake Nyamugabwa
Through Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) Uganda received three international tourism film awards including The Grand Prix award and 2 Gold awards that were awarded to Uganda at a ceremony held at Cape Town City Hall, South Africa in recognition of Uganda’s film: “Explore Uganda – The Pearl of Africa”
While receiving the awards last Friday 27th May 2022, at Sheraton Hotel, pictured below, The Minister of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities was accompanied by Basil Ajer, Director of Tourism, and other senior officials from the Ministry of Tourism.
The MIister of Tourism, Wildddlife and Antiquities Hon Tom 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 that ‘’I congratulate The Ministry of Tourism, UTB Board and Management for this achievement. With this, I begin to think that we are living an interesting time given the accolades as these amplify the Country’s image in the whole world as a leading tourism destination. For an organisation to take pride in its work, you must have trophies and accolades like the ones Uganda has won.”
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. On 21st January President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, endorsed and launched the new country Destination Brand.
The UTB CEO in her speech applauded LOOKOUT Films that shot the video that was acknowledged by the Jury, this portrayed amazing film production talent Uganda has including Scriptwriters, Directors and Producers as the video was part of the brand development with technical assistance from TBWA an Africa wide marketing, branding and Public Relations firm
As a result of this great achievement the online statistics for the Explore Uganda new destination brand show 526 million impressions on Explore Uganda – The Pearl of Africa brand handles , 18 million views on the Google display banner and 381 clicks, while YouTube video has 1.6 million views with 9 million impressions, and 378,418 engagements.
The film, premiered by Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) is an invitation to the world to rediscover the beauty of Uganda, the Pearl of Africa, which highlights the reel of all that is rare, precious and beautiful in Africa for an adventure of a lifetime.
The International Tourism Film Festival (ITFF) Africa Awards are part of the world’s leading film festivals and the only one in Africa with other circuits such as the New York Film Festival (USA), Cannes Film Festival in France, Terres Travel festival in Tortosa, Spain and the Amorgos Tourism Film Festival in Greece. The awards seek 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.
The film, which is now part of Uganda’s refreshed country destination brand identity, seeks to increase arrivals in the destination as the global travel industry recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic. UTB is working with all stakeholders, particularly the private sector, to rebuild and restart the sector as the global tourism and travel industry resumes.
