Lessons Uganda can learn from neighbours

Tourists sightseeing at Murchison Falls National Park recently. Uganda’s various national parks make it one of the best tourism destinations in the world. Photos by Edgar R. Batte

Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing industries worldwide. According to World Economic Forum – 2011 Report, tourism is larger than the global automotive industry and only just smaller than the global banking sector. This makes the tourism industry an incredibly competitive one.

Uganda has tremendous opportunities to be a top destination in the region. Lonely Planet, an independent tourists’ trusted information source, named Uganda its top destination for 2011/12.

National Geographic Traveller Magazine named Virungas as One of 20 Must-See Places for 2012, Travel Africa Magazine named Bwindi the Best African Birding Destination (2011), National Geographic Society named Rwenzori Mountains One of World’s 15 Best Hikes (2011).
The picture of the tree-climbing lions of Ishasha was voted number one photograph of 2011 by National Geographic Magazine and Kidepo Valley National Park was named the third best national park in Africa.

But even with its impressive resource base, tourism marketer, Abiaz Rwamwiri, says Uganda’s tourism sector is far from realising its potential.

From the World Travel and Tourism Council report 2011, Uganda only has 6.9 per cent of the market share in the East African region, and this is attributed to limitations in the sector’s policy framework, leadership, coordination and most significantly; poor funding from government.

Great Lakes Safaris director, Amos Wekesa, attributes this to individuals leading a sector they are not passionate about. At a regional level, some organisations are playing beyond individual inadequacies. East African Tourism Platform (EATP) is one of such institutions whose objective is to promote and showcase East Africa as a single tourism destination.

Its coordinator, Carmen Nibigira, says the platform is sowing seeds of collaboration via inter and intra-regional tourism in terms of products and ultimately positioning the East African Community which includes Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and South Sudan, as one destination with multiple products and services based on price, quality and people.

Individual effort
But before the harnessed efforts effectively take root, the countries have a lot of work to do at an individual level to develop their tourism sectors and thus competition among destinations becoming stiffer than the goods market; which calls for creative means to attract visitors.

Steven Wasswa, the chief executive officer of Kakungulu Safaris, observes that there is need to promote tourism locally for a continuous traffic flow even during off peak periods something the Kenyans have almost excelled at.

“Currently, the biggest marketing budget is taken up marketing Uganda outside Africa yet we have a huge local and regional market that is yet untapped. Marketing initiatives within the region would cost a lot less than in Europe and America so considerable focus is required,” he argues.
One tour operator thinks Uganda is not taking marketing seriously, altogether.

Speaking from marketing and selling perspective, Edris Kisambira, the managing director at Africa Uzuri Safaris, says Uganda has not yet taken marketing seriously and that can be seen in terms of the funding accorded to Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), which he observes is also understaffed for it to be able to carry out its marketing role efficiently and effectively

“The agency charged with marketing Uganda to the rest of the world needs to be dynamic and formidable. Compare UTB with Kenya Tourism Board, Rwanda’s and Tanzania’s equivalent which are formidable. It is the reason they are succeeding.”

While such conversations take shape in Uganda, Kenya is steps ahead and walking the talk of promoting tourism. It has adopted efforts to attract locals to experience and spend within the domestic market.

Three years ago, it undertook Tembea Kenya campaign that promotes tourism among thousands of Kenyans through subsidised rates to tourist destinations across the country.
The promotion has helped shield the sector in the face of dwindling numbers in the aftermath of security threats posed by the Al-Shabaab, and the consequent travel bans by westerns countries to Kenya.

On this, Nibigira advises that East African countries should learn not to put all their eggs in one basket, citing the case of Mombasa which nearly went down and died due to the terrorist attacks.

Another pointer was when Tanzania sponsored a European league for a whole season where all teams wore jerseys with a message to visit Tanzania.

Well, when Uganda’s teams travel for international games all, there are the stories of lack of funds, ill preparations and of course dismal performance at the games after which some, if not all the players, disappear to do odd jobs in the hosting country and never to return.

Money moves things and tourism marketer, Abiaz Rwamwiri argues that there is need to focus on our budget allocations, compared to Kenya and Rwanda.

“Why should we prioritise agriculture that brings no money yet we know what tourism can?” he questions. UTB, a statutory organisation established by the Uganda Tourist Board Statute 1994 mandated to promote and popularise Uganda, has a budget under Shs15 billion.

That compares poorly to Shs168 billion allocated to Kenya Tourism Board making Uganda’s budget look meagre. Tourism consultant Geoffrey Baluku argues that Uganda need to be less rigid if it is to compete with sister nations in the region.

“To start with flights. Our competitors have their own national carriers thus can be able to determine flow of tourists. We have no national carrier and that is a big challenge mindful a tourist could take on a safari plus beach tour in Kenya,” he observes.
Baluku adds that gorillas in Rwanda, note that visa fee to Kenya is $US50 and US$30 in Rwanda. This means that a tourist can save $US20 dollars by visiting Kenya and Rwanda without coming to Uganda whose visa fee is at $US100.

More effort needed
Rwamwiri says that as a fast-growing sector, tourism marketing requires more effort to reach out to consumers in an increasingly competitive global arena. This requires application of modern branding techniques and effective positioning strategies which are costly both in terms of finance and manpower.

“Tourism has the highest
multiplier effect capable of transforming our economy. The sector’s impact on the Ugandan economy is already quite significant. The sector’s total contribution to the economy is estimated at US$1.7 billion, representing 9.0 per cent of GDP. The sector also has direct and total contribution to employment is 225,300 and 522,000 jobs, respectively,” he explains.

Ugandan is gifted with tourism products ranging from highest concentration of primates in the world, including rare mountain gorillas, an ever-burgeoning bird list of over one thousand species and extraordinary variety of landscapes from arid savannah to lakes, tropical forests and high mountains and rich culture.
Rwamwiri quotes conservative numbers where an average safari to Uganda lasts 10 days and costs $2,000 per person. Arrivals at Entebbe airport as of last year were slightly above 1.5 million people.

The tourist marketer projects that an increase of 100,000 tourism visitors would generate $200,000,000 of direct revenue to Uganda. The average multiplier for tourism spending is 1.5 times direct spending.

“Therefore, the true economic impact of increased tourism would be $180,000,000 for a $5,000,000 investment. With 100,000 new international arrivals the visa fee alone ($50 per international arrival) would cover the annual cost of the promotional budget, not counting the $32,000,000 in Value Added Tax (VAT) and other taxes and fees that the government would receive,” he further projects.