Bid to recover tourism will be multi-faceted - UTB 

Dancers entertain guests during the Pearl of the Africa Tourism Expo in Kampala last week. PHOTO | courtesy 

The recovery of tourism will be hinged on a combination of factors, among which will include the appointment of representatives in key source markets, according to Uganda Tourism Board (UTB). 
This, Mr Benon Ocen, the UTB deputy chief executive officer, said will be combined with other initiatives from the private sector through which other strategies will be drawn to lift tourism from the current disruptions occasioned by Covid-19.

“One of the strategies is to purchase more market direct representatives in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Gulf,” he said, noting support from the African Development Bank has already been secured to help in the recovery of one of Uganda’s largest foreign exchange earners. 
The representatives, according to UTB, will mainly focus on promoting the purchase and sell of tourism products and services while promoting Uganda as a major tourist destination. 

Through this, UTB will be seeking to grow tourism numbers in key source markets such as US, Europe and Asia from the current 210,000 arrivals to 500,000 by 2025.  
Mr Ocen noted that they have also been working intensely with development agencies, the private sector and government to ensure that tourism recovers through harmonised promotional strategies, which will also include harmonising promotional activities with other East African Community member states. 

The tourism industry, which anchors a number of sectors including hotel, accommodation and aviation, among others, has since the beginning been of the year been recovering gradually from slowed activity amid a number of strategies that seek to fast track it to pre-Covid-19 period. 
UTB has also hastened promotional activities that seek to promote domestic tourism as a way of insulating the industry from international shocks. 

Mr Richard Kawera, the Uganda Tourism Association chief executive officer urged government to conduct annual classification of hotels, which will be a key driver in service delivery and ensuring value for money. 

Uganda is ranked at 112 among 140 countries in terms of international classification of hotels due to failure to classify hotels regularly, which are a key ingredient in the tourism value chain. 
“If hotels are classified annually, this will improve quality of services,” Mr Kawera said, noting among East African member states, it was only Uganda that does not conduct annual classification of hotels.