Review security in tourism sector

Efforts to increase gains from tourism have greatly improved in the past year, with an emphasis on domestic tourism. From Tulambule Uganda to tourism stakeholders taking people on familiarisation trips, there is a deliberate effort to have more people visiting the tourist attractions in the country. This effort seems to be working.

For starters, once upon a time, it was a struggle to find a photo of Ugandans in the national parks. Stories about the sights and sounds of the parks were, therefore, always accompanied by photos featuring foreign tourists only. Not that there is a problem with this; it translates to the country gaining from foreign exchange after all.

However, it was disconcerting to see that we claimed to be gifted by nature without making an effort to explore what this really means for ourselves. Today, all you have to do is search for #MyUg #Tulambule #VisitUganda #My256 and other such hashtags on social media to see photos of Ugandans enjoying all the beauty the country has to offer.

In our analysis of how the tourism sector performed in 2018, we found that tourism now contributes nearly 10 per cent to Uganda’s Gross Domestic Product, going by figures from the Uganda Tourism Board. The sector fetched at least $1.45b (Shs5.4 trillion) in 2017, making it the country’s largest foreign exchange earner. This figure is expected to double to Shs10 trillion by 2020.

These are all strides in the right direction, which is why we find the latest kidnapping in Queen Elizabeth National Park quite unfortunate. A tour guide, Jean-Paul Remezo, and US national, Kimberley Sue Endecott, were taken from the park at gun point on Tuesday evening. The kidnappers have since demanded $500,000 (about Shs1.8b) as ransom.

To their credit, security agencies, including the police and army, have stepped up to cut off border points and assure tourists that Uganda is still a safe place to visit. Considering this was an isolated incident, this is a reasonable assurance.

However, it does not negate the fact that this is an opportunity to address the issues tourism stakeholders have raised over the years. Issues like increasing the number of park rangers to improve security in the park both for the animals and the visitors, by training more people.

Or securing the entrances of tourist sites beyond making sure visitors pay the entrance fees. This incident has shown that no matter how many great leaps we make forward in attracting tourists, one problem can take us several steps back.

Our hope is that Mr Remezo and Ms Endecott will be rescued soon, and that the lesson we learn from this is to proactively address the issues in the sector.