THE number of tourists who came to Uganda last year, reached over 640,000, according to statistics from the Uganda Tourist Board.

James Bahinguza, the UTB general manager, partly attributed the increase to the November Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala. Over 4,000 delegates attended that meeting.

The tourism, one of the fastest growing sectors, is still on a low side compared to that of Kenya and Tanzania.

The political crisis that hit Kenya recently reduced their tourist figures tremendously. But the Kenyan figures are still remain better than Uganda in terms of earnings.

Some 335,630 tourists arrived in Uganda in 2006, the least figure since 2000, UTB said.

"The figures were a major boost to tourism in the country," Bahinguza said in an interview at his office in Kampala.