Location : Kasese District is located at Uganda’s Western border
with the Democratic Republic of Congo. It borders Districts Kamwenge and Lake George to the East, Kabarole to the North and Bushenyi to the South.
Population : The District has a population of about 533,000 people
Main Town : Kasese, the main town of the district, has a population of 54,000 people
Area : 3389.8 Km2
Land and vegetation : 12.1 percent of the district area is open water, 2.0 percent is
Wetland and 1.7 percent is forest.
The key tourist attractions of the district are given below
1. Queen Elizabeth National Park
About half of Queen Elizabeth National Park is found in Kasese district. The key tourism areas of the Park found in Kasese district include the Kazinga Channel, Lake George, Lake Katwe, Mubuku and Kilembe. The key areas also include the game-drive tracks in the north of the Park, which are home to enormous numbers of kobs, statunga, water-hogs, elephants, buffalos and several families of lions.
2. Rwenzori Mountains National Park
The Park covers the areas of Mountain Rwenzori that are found in Uganda. Mountain climbing, through the dense montane forest and the breath taking hazardous terrain, to the equatorial snow covered peaks is the main attraction. Other attractions include the unique vegetation, Glacier Rivers, primates and wonder features such as deep gorges along the trails.
3. Kibale Forest National Park
Part of Kibale Forest National Park is found in Kasese district. The Park is a one of the remaining natural rainforest reserves recognized internationally. The popularity of the Park as a tourist destination is enhanced by the presence of large varieties of birds and primates especially chimpanzees.
The Park’s main tourist package includes forest/nature/primate/community walks, night primate walks, chimpanzee tracking and bird watching.
However, the Park is best accessed via Kabalore district where the road infrastructure to the Park is well developed.
4. Crafts and Souvenir Industry
Although most of the items sold in the craft shops were either from districts in central Uganda or imported from Kenya, a few locally made souvenirs were available in the craft shops and the main market in Kasese town.
The crafts and souvenir industry has a large potential in Kasese district determined by the tourist traffic and easily available renewable source of raw materials from the wetlands and in the settlements.
5. Hotel and Catering industry
At the time of the Survey, the district had 35 accommodation establishments with a total capacity of 687 beds. The sector employed a total of 320 people.
Mweya Safari Lodge is the most outstanding accommodation establishment, mainly catering for high spender visitors. Budget visitor accommodation is available at Mweya at the Uganda Wildlife Authority hostel.