The Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE 2021) is the first-ever virtual tourism expo in Uganda with a focus on the recovery, rebuilding, reconnecting, and rebooting of the Ugandan Tourism sector.
- POATE is a tourism exposition organized annually by the Uganda Tourism Board.
- The launch of POATE 2021 taking place from April 23-25, 2021 is under the theme: “Restarting Tourism for Regional Economic Development.”
- The decision to go virtual was not only influenced by the unique challenges posed by COVID-19, but it was also out of UTB’s desire to leverage the Internet to bring as many on board as possible.
Amidst optimism and rays of hope in reviving the tourism sector, the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) officially launched the 6th Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE 2021) on March 10, 2021. It was the first-ever virtual tourism expo for Uganda as confirmed by Sandra Natukunda, Senior Public Relations Officer of UTB.
POATE is a tourism exposition organized annually by the Uganda Tourism Board. It brings together domestic, regional, and international tour operators, travel agents, destination agencies, and various players in the tourism trade to network and facilitate tourism business.
The launch of POATE 2021, which will take place from April 23-25, 2021 under the theme: “Restarting Tourism for Regional Economic Development” comes amidst a slow-down in the growth of COVID-19 cases just as 350 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are being administered worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
UTB CEO Lilly Ajarova stated that the decision to go virtual was not only informed and influenced by the unique physical and logistical challenges posed by COVID-19 and the associated limitations, but it was also out of UTB’s desire to leverage the Internet to bring on board as many participants as possible.
“We have built a specialized 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,” she said.
