Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo goes virtual! Register now

Feb 23, 21

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Uganda Tourism Board launches POATE 2021- Uganda’s first ever virtual tourism expo

Article republished with kind permission of author Kojo Bentum Williams of Voyages Afriq. March 11th 2021.

Register for the Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo 2021 and download the event app

The Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) has launched the 6th Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE 2021), which for the first time-ever, will be held virtually.

The 3-day event is scheduled to take place on 27th – 29th April 2021 under the theme “Restarting Tourism for Regional Economic Development.”

Speaking at the launch event on March 10th, CEO of UTB, Lilly Ajarova said, “Well aware that different players in the sector were affected variously, the key focus of POATE 2021 will be on four major sub-topics: Recovery, Rebuilding, Reconnecting and Rebooting the sector.”

CEO of UTB, Lilly Ajarova photographed with Hon. Godfrey Ssuubi Kiwanda, Uganda’s State Minister for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities

“In light of the current climate in which there are multiple travel restrictions, especially in some of our key markets, as well as the need to ensure safety for all participants, POATE 2021 will exclusively be virtual.

“We have built a specialised virtual meeting platform that shall facilitate one-on-one meetings, virtual speed networking sessions as well as live conference sessions for domestic, regional and international tourism players.”

Participants for POATE 2021, according to the CEO, will be vetted through a set of criteria that has been developed by the national organising committee to ensure they are of the right calibre to showcase Destination Uganda’s offering.

“In line with UTB’s recovery marketing strategy, hosted buyers and exhibitors will be sourced from the existing core and emerging source markets within the East African Region (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda), rest of Africa (Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa) and the international markets (North America, UK and Ireland, Germany speaking countries, Japan, Gulf states and China and the new markets of France, Belgium and Netherlands.”

“Participating hosted buyers will be sourced through the newly procured Market Destination Representative firms (MDRs) following a ratio of 80:20, in favour of core markets,” she revealed.

Ms. Lilly added that they hope to build on the successes of POATE 2020 where Uganda registered a 138% growth in exhibitors (from 63 exhibitors in 2018 to 150 exhibitors in 2020) and leveraging the power of the internet. This year we expect to attract more than 200 exhibitors.

POATE is a tourism exposition organised annually by the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB). It brings together all of Uganda’s tourism stakeholders for the greater purpose of individually showcasing their potential to the world on one hand, and jointly, to raise the profile of Uganda as a competitive and attractive destination for domestic, regional and international tourists.

The Muzungu adds: since the advent of the pandemic, Uganda has had a number of initiatives to promote domestic tourism. Read all about Lilly Ajarova’s climb of Margherita Peak in the Rwenzoris.

Do you want to register for the 2021 Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo?

Click here to register for POATE2021. It’s free.

After you have completed Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo registration, you will be sent a link to download the event app (which is called Whova). Install the app, click on find my event and type Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (or POATE). The app is an excellent resource and easy-to-use – but you won’t be able to use it until you have registered. Once you have access to the app, you can build your profile and start connecting with people. Look for attendees (bottom of the screen) and connect with me Charlotte Beauvoisin, Diary of a Muzungu. See you online!

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