Tourism is as much to blame as any other industry. The pandemic outbreak of 'touristitis' in the last few decades has left gaping wounds in many of the world's most pristine and beautiful natural environments. The general prognosis is that the wounds are acceptable as a way of promoting well-being of the 'whole'. But here it all starts to go horribly and cumulatively wrong.
Tourism is a very young industry that has grown with exponential ease.
Cultured on human needs and fed by socio-economic circumstances, there has been little time or inclination for any effective critical appraisal. The excitement of tourism is all-consuming. Its power lies very firmly with ethnocentric developed world markets. This dependency has been thrust upon nations desperate for economic answers, but Uganda is determined to avoid it. Last August 1998, President Museveni announced the start of a countrywide sustainable tourism programme, the culmination of two years of preparatory work by the Ministry of Tourism and the Uganda Tourist Board.