Pen to paper. UTB CEO Lilly Ajarova (C) signs the MoU with FUFA to promote tourism. PHOTO BY JOHN BATANUDDE
Tourism is the
commercial organisation and operation of holidays and visits to places
of interest. A tourist is a person or individual that leaves place A for
place B and spends more than 24 hours but
less than a year and shouldn’t have a job in place B.
less than a year and shouldn’t have a job in place B.
Uganda’s tourism is
clearly looking up and could be doing better by now but the
unpredictable environment poses as a challenge. Uganda is not a mature
market for tourism. So how does a country become a mature market? When
the world invests in your country, that creates maturity and a mature
market. I will not dwell on the political predictable environment for
today because it is a discussion for another day and yet very critical
as well for growth.
I have told you before that Kenya
has 68 international chains of hotels and 20 more chains are setting up
shop and will have fully fledged operations by 2021 while Uganda has a
number less. When a clear challenge crops up, the owners of those
investments who mainly are foreign stand in the gap to defend Kenya
because of commercial interests. The world operates purely on interests
not emotions.
I have also told you before that Jomo Kenyatta International Airport has about 115 scheduled flights while Entebbe has a paltry 32 scheduled flights.
I have also told you before that Jomo Kenyatta International Airport has about 115 scheduled flights while Entebbe has a paltry 32 scheduled flights.
Those departures
represent commercial interests and those behind those interests will be
at the forefront to defend Kenya in the face of challenges. There are,
for example far much more gun challenges in the US than Uganda will
probably ever experience. It is again commercial interests that have
been built over years. How can we as Uganda fight to create a mature
market?
Uganda
can create a commercial think tank with specific focus on growth and
that includes positioning the country on the world market. The think
tanks should be composed of people with relevant experience. I have
found out that many countries out there clearly lobby in that direction
and most of those are already very mature destinations. Another group
would focus on lobbying the international chains of hotels to set up
shop in Uganda and I can assure you that if we have say 50 chains
invested here, they will fight to protect the image of Uganda for
business purposes.
Serena group for example is called a
regional chain because it operates only in this region. Have you ever
asked yourself how many tomatoes are consumed daily by the Serenas? What
about onions? Watermelons? Eggs? Now imagine we had 200 Serenas? What
would the maths be like? Who will grow? The suppliers are beneficiaries
of the marketing efforts of the same business. Of course I spent a lot
of time over the years explaining to people why we all should support
the formation of Uganda Airlines. Everybody was excited about the
purchases of the planes but it is clear that we don’t have a business
approach to do business. The few government people I have tried to speak
to seem to be waiting for the President to make all the decisions,
which is wrong.
The fact is that Uganda Airlines will never, mark my words,
never fly to all the destinations Ugandans go to and that is the reason
we need to focus on the source of markets of spenders within and outside
Africa. Uganda Airlines can grow by strategically working hand in hand
with tourism and agriculture ministries.
Kenya for example has more than 500,000 individuals with ability to spend more than $2,000 each in Uganda.
Uganda Airlines, working with Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), must lay strategies of marketing tourism potential to Kenyans.
We give Kenyans very affordable tickets and target them to spend some cash here.
Kenya for example has more than 500,000 individuals with ability to spend more than $2,000 each in Uganda.
Uganda Airlines, working with Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), must lay strategies of marketing tourism potential to Kenyans.
We give Kenyans very affordable tickets and target them to spend some cash here.
When
it comes to agriculture, we need to study the external markets such as
the Arab world. Once the market has been found, Uganda Airlines can then
offer a subsided transport to our farmers to export to that market.
The airline earns the cargo fees and Ugandans earn from selling mangoes, oranges to a market that can afford to pay higher prices. Here we should study Ethiopians airliness model.
I am also surprised that some of the planes have arrived and no one knows where exactly they will be flying to when they fly.
The writer is an investment expert
— amos@greatlakessafaris.com
The airline earns the cargo fees and Ugandans earn from selling mangoes, oranges to a market that can afford to pay higher prices. Here we should study Ethiopians airliness model.
I am also surprised that some of the planes have arrived and no one knows where exactly they will be flying to when they fly.
The writer is an investment expert
— amos@greatlakessafaris.com
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