On Nov 10th, a 3-person film crew arrived to Uganda from Turkey to shoot a 4-episode series on tourism in Uganda to market the country to Turkey.
The award winning KanalTurk travel show, which was recognized as the top documentary television show in Turkey this year, is producing this 3-episode series, which will have an estimated fifteen million viewers each showing. The film crew travelled around the Albertine Rift and to Jinja, to capture the highlights of Uganda’s tourism attractions.
Bringing the Turkish film crew to Uganda was a result partnership between USAID-STAR and Turkish Airlines who proposed the idea. USAID-STAR then reached out to its Pearls of Uganda Supporters (private tourism businesses) to solicit complimentary tour operator services, food and lodging.
Due to the generous offers from Pearls of Uganda Supporters, the television crew was able to put together a 15-day trip that included visits to Jinja, Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth, Kibale, Bwindi and Lake Mburo. The greatest Supporter for this trip was Matoke Tours, who provided a safari vehicle, their best driver guide and has been very helpful in arranging the whole trip including mobilizing many lodging providers and to show the TV Crew the real Uganda. Complimentary lodging was provided by Serena Hotels, Wild Waters, Geolodges, Kyaninga Lodge, Bush Camps, Nkuringo Safari Lodge, Mihingo Lodge, Lagoon Resort and more.
Uganda Wildlife Authority offered free park entry, chimp, lion and gorilla tracking permits and waved commercial filming fees in return for the footage. The overall contributions for the trip are estimated to be well beyond $40,000, including international air travel and the 15-day tour. The results of positive impacts for Uganda tourism and other industries will certainly be priceless.
The crew filmed typical tourism experiences such as wildlife safaris, visited many community and cultural tourism experiences including agro-tourism and Katwe Salt Lake to promote Pearls of Uganda. UWA staff in Queen Elizabeth National Park were interviewed to include coverage of conservation issues and initiatives. This coverage will help to promote the powers of sustainable tourism in conserving biodiversity.
The same television show created a similar production for Tanzania, which resulted in a huge influx of tourism bookings from Turkey, a Turkish investment group sending a 45-person delegation to Tanzania to increase partnerships as well as video footage that the country utilized this year at WTM.
