Uganda gorilla Highlands has set a new tourism initiative aimed at promoting the region using digital marketing.
These highlands are located in the Southwest of Uganda and had already introduced the area using a range of novel tourism products ranging from canoe safaris over the launch of hiking trails to homestays with Ugandan farmers, and now the digital marketing campaign is to take this to another level.
Miha Logar, the brain behind the Gorilla Highlands campaign and passionate activist to bring more tourists to the area is presently working on this campaign with his team, which, when complete, will seek to brand Gorilla Highlands as both an attractive tourism region in Uganda but also promote the various eco-friendly activities the group has put together in recent months. Among those are others like Hiking, Unique Rift Valley landscapes (volcanoes, lakes, rainforests), Dugout canoes, Rich history (Nyabingi and the Rasta connection, Katuregye and other anti colonial rebellions, Dr Sharp’s leprosy colony, Idi Amin’s legacy), Cultural variety (Batwa aka Pygmies, Bakiga, Bafumbira), Birding and of course the prized Mountain Gorillas besides other primates which are found in the region.
According to the information received from him the campaign concept has been outlined as follows:
‘We are marketing the Gorilla Highlands (GH), the southwestern tip of Uganda comprised of Kabale, Kanungu and Kisoro Districts, from the perspective of pro-poor tourism. Our mission is to successfully brand and promote the region in a manner that brings an increase in responsible, sustainable, culturally sensitive tourism that will work to have a direct positive benefit on the bottom of the pyramid inhabitants of the Gorilla Highlands.”
Miha went on to mention the objectives of the new marketing campaign, incidentally all financed by local fundraising activities and the support of a growing number of sponsors who wish to be associated with this novel way of promoting this part of the country:
– To position the term “Gorilla Highlands” as a universally accepted name for the region
– To expand the perception of the region beyond mountain gorillas
– To reach a level of tourism appeal comparable to Kilimanjaro at the African level or the Himalayas at the global level
To find out more about the Gorilla Highlands click on www.gorillahighlands.com (or alternatively click on Gorillahighlands and Twitter) from where it is possible to access parts of the organization’s award winning e-book, see the e-version of their pocket guide booklet, a video map or the area and outlines of the hiking trails which lead from Kabale over Lake Bunyonyi all the way to Kisoro and Lake Mutanda.
Gorilla Highlands is meanwhile also putting together a Chef’s Competition due to be held in Kabale sometime in April, where local talent from this part of Uganda can show off their skills and produce meals using predominantly local ingredients. Expect to read more about that however nearer to the time when the competition is being held.