Tourism Queen Hasfah Zalwango, BHTB Champions Formation of Ssese Islands Tourism Information Center

Ssese Islands are an archipelago of 84 islands in the Northwestern part of Lake Victoria, the second-largest freshwater lake in the world. The Ssese Islands are perhaps Uganda’s best kept secret with a piece of paradise surrounded by water also forming Kalangala District Local Government.

The Islands offer revelers and honeymooners pristine tropical forest, clear blue waters and white sand beaches in which to relax, amazing for photography and offer visitors the perfect atmospheres for relaxation away from the busy life plus many other sporting activities.

However, the islands, formed about 12,000 years ago according to scientists, had no official tourism information center to guide thousands of domestic and foreign visitors arriving on a daily basis.

This Prompted Queen Hasfah Zalwago, the Miss Tourism Ssese county 2024 in Partnership with the Buganda Heritage and Tourism Board (BHTB), Ssese County, Sinyaland Museum, Kalangala District Local Government and Ssese islands promotions to open up an information center to break the information barriers limiting the numbers of tourists visiting the islands

The launch of the Ssese islands tourism center was held at Sinyaland Museum and caves, a place that was named before Ssese island’s traditional delicacy “Amasiinya) but it will be situated at the Ssese county headquarters

Mr. Albert Kasozi, the Executive Director of Buganda heritage and Tourism board said Ssese Islands are among the biggest tourism destinations gifted to this country but area tourism information is not well profiled which makes it difficult to provide enough information about the activities and the interesting stories

“We have spoken enough, it’s high time for us to put our proposals into practice. We are also working on a project to establish such centers in all Buganda kingdom counties to diversify the Kingdom Tourism industry. We have the standard infrastructure but we are limited by information,” Mr. Kasozi said.

The Ssese County Chief Kweeba Augustine Kasirye said the Islands have got very rich traditional history which is so important for the Kingdom but not written anywhere thus the need to open the information center.

Queen Hasfah Zalwago, the Miss Tourism Ssese County 2024 said she is ready to work as the county tourism ambassador to inform the world how Ssese islands are gifted by nature with right and authentic information.

Queen Ruth Namale, the Miss Tourism Buganda kingdom and Kyadondo county 2024 said the information center is a great initiative to Kalangala and will reveal the different activities and amenities in the area tourism sector.

Mr. Matovu Maurice Peter, the Director Explore Masaka region Tourism Agency said a number of tour companies had concentrated on guiding tourists to the western region leaving the Masaka sub region in isolation because they lacked information about the important tourism attractions.

Mr. Daniel Kikoola, the former Kalangala District chairperson said they had a long term ddream to market Kalangala as a tourism destination many years ago in 1989 but the many other economic activities like Oil palm growing, the changing infrastructure etc have made a tremendous contribution to making the islands a suitable place to visit.

The Kalangala District Tourism Officer Ms. Gladys Nabukenya, asked the tourism stakeholders to conserve the serenity and million dollar views of destination Kalangala and put up more tourism infrastructure to supplement the already existing cultural and traditional sites in the District.

Nabukenya said the tourism center will work as a tool to bridge the gap between the community and visitor plus generating local revenue for the district, and encouraging community participation in the tourism industry.

“We shall have information about visitor transportation to sites, the accommodation sites, the tourism site database, financial services, health assurances, the hospitality of people, the island traditions that must be respected, etc.” Ms. Glad added

Mr. Lubandi Solomon Jonathan, the Director Sinyaland Museum Kalangala said there has been a gap to connect the rich cultural traditions in Ssese Islands and Tourism but the information center will provide all necessities to boost the tourism sector.

The Ssese Islands Tourism Information Center is a landmark initiative dedicated to the celebration, preservation and promotion of the rich heritage and tourism potential of the Ssese Islands. 

The center also aims to become a beacon for the preservation and promotion of Ssese Islands’ unique culture, history and natural beauty.

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