NORTHERN UGANDA BRACES FOR MASSIVE VISITOR INFLUX AHEAD OF ‘HYBRID ECLIPSE’
(Posted 01st November 2013)
Over 10.000 visitors made up by a large number of locals and several hundred foreign tourists, are expected to flock to Northern Uganda from today to witness, good weather permitting, one of the great spectacles of the skies above us, a hybrid solar eclipse.
While sections of the private sector have been working on this ‘project’ for over a year, getting ready by block booking accommodation ahead of the pack and even contracting temporary tented camps to be erected for this weekend, ‘official Uganda’ took rather long to catch on to this event, but when they did they made up for lost time and engaged with a vengeance.
Major security arrangements have been put into place in the districts around Pakwach to ensure the safety of visitors while hotels and lodges which still have a bed or a few to sell, are now charging full rack rates, some in fact reported to have added ‘eclipse supplements’ to their rates.
The path of the eclipse has favoured the locations around Pakwach, though it will also be seen in Eastern Congo and Northern Kenya, before traversing into the Indian Ocean after crossing the African continent.
Uganda was last year Lonely Planet’s top global destination, was named this year by National Geographic as one of their top choices to travel to and the Kidepo Valley National Park named by CNN as their top choice in Africa. The upcoming eclipse is seen as one great opportunity to showcase the country ahead of next week’s World Travel Market in London, where Uganda will of course be present, led by the Uganda Tourism Board and a large number of private sector representatives from hotels, lodges, the national parks and other attractions and of course the DMC’s. Time to visit ‘Uganda, the Pearl of Africa’.
See www.visituganda.com – the official Uganda Tourism Board website or www.ugandawildlife.org – the official site of Uganda National Parks for more information about the country. Another useful site is www.theeye.co.ug, a bi-monthly full detail free visitor guide to Uganda.
