Uganda attracts tourists but has it done enough marketing?

The Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga and the Minister of Tourism Maria Mutagambwa at Uganda’s stand at the World Tourism Market exhibition

Uganda is endowed with many natural attractions that could boost its capacity for tourism. But it takes more than just these attributes to cash in on the market.

All eyes were on Uganda’s stand at the World Tourism Market (WTM) exhibition that ran from November 5 to 8 at the Excel Docklands in London, UK.

Major players in the travel and tourism industry in the world were in London for the biggest international tourism exhibition and the issue of Uganda being the number one tourism destination for 2012 tickled some into looking to see what our claim to fame is.
The Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Ms Maria Mutagamba, travelled with a large team of Ugandan exhibitors to the annual event and she said the response from tourists was overwhelming.

“Our exhibitors were constantly busy,” she said. “This was our chance to show the world that our honour as the number one tourist destination wasn’t a mistake, more so we are not ready to relinquish that top spot. And I am sure we did just that.”

The expo brought together both the public and private sector including Uganda Wildlife Authority, Uganda Tourism Board, The Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Conservation Trust, Civil Aviation Authority, Hoteliers and 20 private tour operators.

Good performance
To add the icing on the cake, the Speaker Rebecca Kadaga also visited the Uganda stand. “The speaker was amazing and her visit was so timely,” said Amos Wekesa of Great Lakes Safaris company. “It was generally a sucessful event for Uganda.”

Mutagamba echoed Wekesa’s words saying that this was probably best exhibition Uganda has had at WTM in its 16-year experience at the event. “We are yet to come out with an official asessment of the general performance but it is clear that this was far better than the previous ones in terms of response from tourists,” she added. “I think the results will start to show sooner than later but again we need to do our part down here in Uganda.”

While all Ugandan participants have come back with a buzz from the event, the reality is that they will have to contend with the weight of expectations while at the same time ensuring that Uganda expands its share of the world tourism market in the near future. That will take more actions than words.

Now in its 30th year of existence, WTM attracts around 26,700 key industry professionals from over 189 countries across the globe. This platform allows participants to meet, network and conduct business with leading travel institutions and to keep abreast with the latest developments in the travel industry.

The Ugandan team met with a big number of the industry players but some still think our presence out there is not enough. “I agree we have done well in London but I think we haven’t used this number one tag to our best advantage,” noted Wekesa. “It is not too late though because even with just over a month to go on 2012 we can still grab some attention.”

He says he was at the Asia International Tourism Expo in Singapore last month and he was shocked not to see any other Ugandan exhibitor at the expo. “There were exhibitors from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, all over Asia and Africa but Uganda was a new subject to them,” he said. “Some were even asking if Uganda was in South Africa. This should serve as a wake-up call showing us that much as Lonely Planet named us the best destination, we still need to help ourselves by making ourselves heard. Everyone is fighting to become number one and no one will be there to talk about Uganda if Ugandans don’t show up. And no individual operator can make things happen without government support.”

Uganda has missed a couple of other big tourism exhibitions this year including the Indaba of South Africa besides the glaring mistake that saw the Uganda stall at the London Olympics go unused throughout the duration of the games.

The major reason has been government not dedicating adequate funds to the sector, which is now the number one foreign exchange earner for the country’s service sector.
While Uganda has skipped most of these tourism events citing lack of funds, our close competition especially neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania have been heavily represented at almost every opportunity availed. However, the minister promised things will change soon.

Perhaps they have started changing from the WTM where even the country’s space at the expo was increased due to increased keen interest shown by both the private and public tourism stakeholders.

The marketing manager of UTB, Edwin Muzahura is optimistic, the signs are pointing to better days for the tourism sector. “The government has prioritised tourism in its development plan within its four primary sectors to transform the economy. The tourism private sector has grown and the publicity for the country has grown worldwide.” Muzahura adds that “By the government creating an independent tourism ministry, it means now more funding is on the way and tourism is set to become the number one forex earner for the country after remittances.”

Natural endowment
In fact even some government institutions went ahead and broke some barriers. The acting Executive Director, Uganda Wildlife Authority, Andrew Seguya has been hailed for providing over Shs300m towards preparations for the expo.

  By Bruce Amp