The chairman of the Uganda Tourism Board of directors, Daudi Migereko has said this is the right time for the country to use the recently crowned Miss World Africa, Quinn Abenakyo, as the face of Uganda.
Abenakyo emerged in the top five at the Miss World Finals in China, and was close to sweeping the Miss World Crown, emerging third in the popular vote.
According to Migereko, a former Tourism Minister, this is the right time to use the 22-year old Abenakyo as the face of Uganda's tourism.
“Abenakyo has done us proud, she put up an excellent show and as a country, we are bound to benefit immensely as a result of the publicity Uganda has had by her excellent performance.”
“The Image of the country has been put at a different trajectory, we now need to position ourselves such that the tourism industry benefits from this,” he added.
The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga pledged her support to Abenakyo in propagating her beauty with a purpose campaign of stopping teenage pregnancies.
“I would like to pledge my support to Quinn (Abenakyo) when she returns. I am excited about the theme she chose; I will support her to propagate that campaign because it is very vital in the sustainable development goals.”
According to David Muwanga, the CEO of UNAA Causes, a diaspora association of Ugandans in North America, which partners with the Miss Uganda Franchise under the Clean Water campaign and where Abenakyo is face of campaign; this is the best time Uganda is on market for the right reasons and a time for government refocus expenditure on image building and tourism.
“Rwanda paid millions of money to Arsenal for publicity and Uganda which paid nothing to Quinn has got all publicity. We are now out there for all right reasons and for free. This means that if Uganda government really focused their money on fruitful things and talent building, we would get untold publicity and tourism returns,” he said.
“Many people go to Kenya because their talent is winning everywhere, their athletes are winning abroad, their rugby team is winning and making so much publicity for them. It is high time government refocuses their expenditure on Tourism. People like Abenakyo should be invested in like ambassadors now,” he added.
Government spends Shs380m ($100,000) annually in financing political activities and conventional luxury gatherings of Ugandans in North America. The same money has instead has caused in fights and divisions due to lack of accountability among other reasons.
Meanwhile, government recently through the ministry of tourism, released an undisclosed sum of money to socialite Zari Hassan as a tourism ambassador for the country.
