CAPETOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – Uganda has been crowned this year’s Grand Prix and twice Gold Prize winner by the International Festival of African Tourism Films for its film Explore Uganda – The Pearl of Africa .
The film, premiered by the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) is an invitation to the world to rediscover the beauty of the pearl of Africa, Uganda which is a reflection of all that is rare, precious and beautiful in Africa for an adventure of a lifetime. .
At a prestigious awards ceremony held at Cape Town City Hall on Friday evening, UTB received the Gold Award for Tourist Destination Country-in Africa, the Gold Award for Tourist Destination Country – Internationally and the Grand Prix Award for Tourism destination country in Africa.
The Africa Awards of the International Tourism Film Festival (ITFF) are among the main film festivals in the world and the only one in Africa with other circuits such as the New York Film Festival (USA), the Cannes Film Festival in France, the Terres Travel festival in Tortosa, Spain and the Amorgos Tourist Film Festival in Greece. The awards aim to recognize outstanding and innovative video content related to the tourism and travel industry, accessible on all continents and able to be viewed and used on various platforms.
Commenting moments after receiving the award in Cape Town, UTB Chief Executive Lilly Ajarova said: “It is an honor and a pleasure for us to receive these awards. In addition to being a great motivation for our sector. We will leverage this recognition to maintain high standards for ourselves in terms of durability, quality and experience. It will also add to our voice to continuously position Uganda as a destination of choice in Africa and internationally”
The film, which is now part of Uganda’s updated destination brand identity, seeks to boost arrivals to the destination as the global travel industry recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic. UTB is also working with all stakeholders to rebuild and restart the sector as the global tourism and travel industry recovers.
The new brand is underpinned by a call to action for travelers to experience the true essence of what Uganda has to offer the world.
“I want to thank the Jury for finding us worthy of these awards. As a country, we are happy to be associated with the ITFFA and we invite you all to come and explore the pearl of Africa, as we continuously facilitate the visit of tourists from all over the world”. said Uganda’s Minister of State for Tourism, Martin Mugarra Bahinduka, in his acceptance speech while receiving the awards alongside HE Kintu Nyago – Uganda’s Acting High Commissioner to South Africa, Ms. Rosemary Kobutagi – Commissioner for Tourism Development and Mrs. Lilly Ajarova – CEO of UTB.
Hugo Marcos, Secretary General of the International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals (CIFFT) remarked “that the Explore Uganda Destination video was one of the highest rated films in the competition. It highlighted the uniqueness, authenticity and variety of Uganda’s beauty and inspired the jury and viewers to visit Uganda now”.
The Uganda Tourism Board’s destination film Explore Uganda was produced by LoukOut Films and directed by TBWA Uganda.
Tourism remains one of the fastest growing sectors in Uganda, earning the country over US$1.6 billion in 2019 and accounting for 7.7% of the national GDP.
