Let’s invest in tourism amenities, infrastructure

This week on Wednesday, about 250 tourists from Israel jetted into the country to tour various sites Uganda is endowed with. The tourists chartered a plane direct from Tel Aviv to Entebbe International Airport that took them about five hours.
This is a great milestone in Uganda’s tourism sector where, in a single batch and time, we receive more than 200 tourists from one single state.

Tourism in Uganda is focused on the country’s landscape, wildlife and culture and it is a major driver of employment, investment and foreign exchange, contributing about Shs4.9 trillion to Uganda’s GDP in the Financial Year 2012/13.

By implication, the tourism sector is so far the highest revenue earner for the country. But how much is government investing in the sector to allow for quick and progressive growth? If it took the Israeli tourists five hours from Israel to Uganda, and it’s going to take them six to seven hours from Kampala to Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale District, it does not make good tourism sense for the country as well as the tourists.

Uganda needs to adequately fix the road infrastructure, especially in and around the tourism districts and routes leading to the tourism sites. Uganda’s airstrips, which are not many, need to be rehabilitated.

Unfortunately, some of these airstrips have been encroached on while others are dilapidated. We need to reciprocate in the same measure as we get the revenues to provide good amenities such as hotels for the tourists to appreciate the beauty the country presents.

We need landmarks to announce entry into our towns and tourism sites and features, not just to arrive in a place with no welcome distinct feature. We need a harbinger to our towns and sites. Many of our tourism products are out of the city by many kilometres and a tired tourist who has just disembarked from a flight surely needs a comfortable ride or flight to their destination.

With the earnings the country gets, this is not a herculean task, it only requires proper planning and we turn around the economy through tourism. Another area that was well thought out and will promote the sector growth is the reintroduction and resumption soon of the national carrier, Uganda Airlines, that will facilitate quick movement within and without.

So we need to tap into this revenue generating potential, a cash cow that we must feed to earn from.