Uganda attracts foreign tourists with curvy women campaign

Atwine Allen, Uganda |

The Ugandan Ministry of Tourism has revealed plan to use curvy and sexy women, as a tourism product, to attract more tourists to Uganda. This was disclosed by Mr. Godfrey Kiwanda State Minister for Tourism, during the unveiling ceremony on Wednesday at Mestil Hotel, Kampala.

According to the Tourism Minister, a beauty pageant tagged “ Miss Curvy Uganda’ had been launched to select sexy curvaceous women, as part of the country’s “Tulambule” or “let’s tour” campaign to attract foreign visitors. The finalists will be selected in June.

“We have naturally endowed nice looking women that are amazing to look at. Why don’t we use these people as a strategy to promote our tourism industry?” Mr Kiwanda said.

Recall that the tourism industry is a major foreign exchange earner for Uganda. In 2018 alone, a release by the government showed that the East African country earned Sh5 trillion ( $1.4b) from the sector, while it is on record that Uganda is a destination for diverse wildlife species such as gorillas and birds among other animals. It is also an interesting location for tourists to view the River Nile, crater lakes and mountains.

The Ugandan Government is planning to increase tourism industry earning by packaging the country’s curvaceous women despite the country's conservative worldview.

In her remark, at the unveiling ceremony, Ms Ann Mungoma, Director of the pageant, noted that when the pageants flaunt their endowments, it will enhance the visibility and appreciation of Ugandan people.

She said, “Miss Curvy is an event that will bring out the endowment of the real African woman. It is an exceptional event that will see young ladies showcase their beautiful curves and intellect. Only those aged 18 and below 35 are eligible to participate.

 “Since most pageants celebrate slender and pretty faces which are a more western way of defining beauty, most African women are uniquely built and this does not make them any less attractive,” Mungoma said.

Ms Leilah Nakabira, an actor reacting to the new development said, "When you look at social media, people post their pictures they get followers and many likes, so those followers could come to Uganda to tour. So curvy women could post on social media and get followers.

The initiative has however been hit with intense backlash from female activists and opposition figures.

Rita Aciro, executive director of the Uganda Women’s network told Agence France-Presse that, “this is perversion. To think women can be used as sex objects in this age and time is an absurdity and we condemn it.

While Former opposition leader in parliament Winnie Kiiza said the move came at a time when, “women face fear and stigma in a male-dominated society. We have been outraged by this campaign that a government can parade curves of women as a tourist attraction.”