Uganda is such a beauty, with enviable flora and fauna showcased at
different spots and corners of its boundaries. It is home to the biggest
population of the prized Mountain Gorilla, the primate chimpanzees,
beautiful weather, source of the mighty River Nile, Africa’s largest
fresh water body- Lake Victoria, lush greenery, landscapes, vast
wildlife, birding experiences, cultural showcase, culinary adventure, an
enviable nightlife and much more.
But, with all this splendour, most
of the world is yet to know about Uganda. A more serious marketing
strategy could work to the advantage of the Pearl of Africa. At the
Uganda stand during the Magical Kenya Travel Expo, the region’s biggest
tourism expo, now in its eighth year, tourism operators were able to
tell and show at least 200 buyers from 27 countries, that Uganda is a
lot more than its dark past, identified with fallen statesman Idi Amin.
“Some
of the people who have visited our stall are ignorant about Uganda.
Some of the tourism agents have asked us if Idi Amin is still around.
Some still have stories about our dark past so we are telling them that
that is part of our history but it is behind us and that we have a
stable country and a diverse tourism product,” explains Chris Wanda, a
tour operator with Primate Expeditions.
He says Uganda needs all the
showcasing it can get because it is under marketed and under exploited.
“We have a diverse product. We have only been selling the primates, that
is, the chimpanzees and gorillas but we have Mountain Rwenzori, the
Victoria Nile, name it,” he adds.
Chimpazees
“We
are selling exclusive chimpanzee experience. We encourage people to
come to Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary to see how chimpanzees
interact with each other,” says Martha Nansamba, Marketing Manager,
Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary.
The interest in primates is still
a big seller and her team was busy, marketing two new products;
chimpanzee monitoring at the water edges where visitors can view
chimpanzees that are not yet integrated with the big group in the
forest.
“We are opening up a wildlife hub starting in January, next
year, where we will take visitors to see otters as they come from the
land and into the waters. There will be a lot to learn about the life of
otters,” she adds.
For an overnight stay, tourists pay US$166
(Shs436,000), which is inclusive of meals. Transportation is charged
differently at a rate of US$125 (Shs475,000), sharing a boat and US$250
to exclusive travellers. To track the chimpanzees, a tourist pays US$100
(about Shs380,000). The fee includes monitoring the primates, taking a
sunset cruise on Lake Victoria and visiting the communities on Ngamba
island.
The unsung attractions
To Benedict
Ntale, Vice Chairperson of Association of Tour Operators (AUTO), it is
prime time to promote other tourism products Uganda has to offer, in
addition to chimpanzees and gorillas.
“People who have visited the
Uganda tourism stall don’t have a clear idea of what other attractions
the country has to offer in terms of tourism so there is a lot of
explanation and marketing to do. We have shown them maps, short clips of
videos and are answering a number of questions, ranging from the
security of Uganda to the nature and state of roads, accommodation,
insurance companies and general conception of the country,” Ntale, also
Managing Director, Ape Treks, further explains.
“This is my third
time attending the Magical Kenya Travel Expo and each time I have
attended, I have received good business. This year, I was quite picky on
the kind of appointments that I wanted. Thanks to their matching
system, I got quality hosted buyers. I have been busy,” Ngamba’s
Nansamba further explains.
Eddy Kirya is a board member of Uganda
Tourism Board (UTB), the body charged with marketing destination Uganda.
He says it is time Uganda takes advantage of online platforms to reach
out to the rest of the world. “Our tracking prices are still very
friendly and affordable.
There is a lot of inquiry about birds
because we are birding destination, with over 1, 000 bird species in
Uganda. The adventure product, of white water rafting and hiking,”
explains Eddy Kirya, board member of Uganda Tourism Board (UTB),” he
adds.
Lessons from Kenya
Magical Kenya is a
platform local tour operators appreciate for linking them with
international hosted buyers and agents to create sustainable business
relationships.
“Kenya has taken great strides in their aviation
sector, for example their recent launch of a one-way direct flight from
Nairobi to New York. As Uganda, we need to position ourselves very close
because if tourists are flying directly to USA, it means we can tap
into that because we are only 45 minutes away from Kenya,” observes
Kirya.
For this and more, he says Uganda can learn from Kenya as a
more established tourism destination. His observation of investment in
organising its travel expo is one lesson Uganda can pick in order to
improve on the outcome of the Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE).
To
this end, Ngamba’s marketer, Nansamba, says POATE needs to revise its
strategy by moving away from the model of doing business-to-consumer and
to Kenya’s model of doing business-to-business.
For now, she finds
no reason to attend another edition of Uganda’s expo. “There is no
value. Ugandans will come and appreciate products but they don’t buy in.
They prefer products that are out of the country, like if a Kenya
exhibited, they will choose to go to the coast than come and visit us,”
she explains.
Jemimah Walugembe, Managing Director of Sights Travel,
suggests to UTB to be keen on the quality of hosted buyers and agents it
invited. “When we are picking hosted buyers, let us pick the right
ones. It should be buyers who are going to market our tourism products
and get a return on investment. Let us know the profiles of the buyers
and how serious they are. I have interacted with some serious buyers at
Magical Kenya Travel Expo.”
Ntale observes that Kenya sees to it that
different continents are represented at the expo, so one is sure to
find hosted buyers from South America, Asia, Africa and South West
Pacific at the annual expo.
“They invest to bring them to Kenya. They
fund their air tickets, receive them and take them around Kenya to
experience the product they are lobbied to sell,” he adds. Wanda advises
that, in selecting hosted buyers, Uganda needs to also study and invite
hosted buyers from its traditional source markets as well as emerging
source markets for example the Scandinavian countries and China so that
it grows tourism partners that will boost its arrival statistics which
currently stand at 1.3 million visitors. The opportunities are therefore
many.
