Joint Tourism Bill passed by East African Parliament

By Geoffrey Baluku

The East African Legislative Assembly has passed the Tourism and Wildlife Management Bill paving way for an establishment of a Joint Tourism Board for the community.

This private member’s bill presented by MP Safina Kwekwe (Kenya) during the third meeting of the third session of the second East African Legislative is also aimed at creating an East African Tourism and Wildlife Commission that would coordinate the management of Tourism and Wildlife amongst the partner states.

In an interview with Trek East Africa, Kwekwe said, “The bill is about enabling an environment where marketing and promotion of tourism activities can be done jointly by all partner states. It also aims at setting standards for the tourism industry in the region by enhancing capacity building,” she added.

The Commission will promote cultural tourism, wildlife management, guarantee Intellectual property rights protection and coordinate the marketing and promotion of tourism in East Africa as a single tourism destination.

Wild animals wander across the East African borders, there for it is imperative that the community manages wildlife together.

Kate Kamba (Tanzania) said the region was endowed with enormous natural resources, whose management is burdened by bureaucracy among the member countries.

Hon. George Francis Nangale (Tanzania) on his part said that the passing of the bill is yet another milestone to EALA in its efforts to coordinate East African Partner States towards the management of the tourism industry in the region.

Kwekwe, the legislator from Kenya added, that "For East Africa to be a single tourism destination there will be need for harmonizing tourism policies and having the same incentives for tourists across the region".

She says the Bill will bring an end to contradictions in Tourism policies within member states.

Uganda's Tourism boosted by Global Hiking Challenge in the Wild

By Benard Busulwa

Uganda’s tourism sector received a boost recently when the country hosted its inaugural Hike4Life challenge. The annual event, which is organised by Focus, an international humanitarian relief organisation, seeks to mobilise resources through sponsorship of hiking or cycling challenges.

Participants who are drawn from around the globe help to boost the host country’s tourism. Focus works with its agencies in Europe, North America and South Asia.

Uganda’s hiking challenge around Mt Elgon — which is famed for mountain climbing and hiking safaris — brought together 41 participants from Europe, USA and Canada. Although the country has attractive rivers, lakes, game parks and cultural sites, the tourism sector is under exploited due to poor marketing strategies. The choice of Mt Elgon for the Hike4Life event was inspired by its intact natural beauty and highly challenging terrain.

“We wanted an environment that could dare contestants both mentally and physically. In consultation with our local partners, Mt Elgon emerged as the best venue” said Irfan Haji, vice chairman of Focus agency in Europe.

Uganda views the Hike4Life event as an opportunity to showcase some of its less exploited tourist attraction sites. Mt Elgon for instance, is a popular tourist site but a poor road network and inapt bridges discourages tourists, particularly budget travellers, from visiting the region.

Consequently, tourist arrivals in the country are lower than those of neighbouring countries. For instance, Uganda recorded an estimated 844,000 tourists in 2008 compared with 1.1 million registered by Kenya during the same period.

But organisers of the Hike4Life challenge expressed optimism about the impact the event had on the country’s tourism sector.

“We are delighted to have hosted this event in Uganda. Many of the participants had never travelled to this country; the hiking challenge offered them an opportunity to experience the hospitality and warmth of its people, as well as discover the magnificent countryside,” said Mahmood Ahmed, the Aga Khan Development Network resident representative in Uganda, during the event.

The Uganda hiking challenge raised some $250,000 which is to be injected into the ongoing humanitarian activities in Afghanistan and India. This is in contrast to previous Hike4Life events that raised an average of $500,000 each.

Relief efforts

Focus was established in 1994 by the Ismaili Community and is an affiliate of the AKDN — a group of private and international agencies who foster social welfare activities in developing countries. Focus’ speciality is international crisis response and disaster management interventions particularly in Asia — Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. Interventions have also taken place in Madagascar and Mozambique.

So far, Focus has held eight Hike4Life events. The inaugural edition was held in Egypt in 2002 and involved a bikathon along the River Nile. Subsequent events included a climbing challenge hosted by Kenya in 2003 and a hiking event around Mt Kilimanjaro in 2007.

Through deeper outreach networks in various parts of Asia, Focus is able to supplement relief efforts of large international aid bodies such as the Red Cross, Oxfam and the World Food Program.However, officials are concerned that the need for humanitarian assistance is rising faster than they can mobilise ample resources.

Shahed Karim, board member of Focus Europe attributed the trend to the severe effects of climate change that are often blamed on industrial pollution prevalent in the developed world.

The East African

New Vessels for Kalangala

By TEA Reporter,

KALANGALA district made up of several scattered islands is to acquire two new ferries by June 2010, Deo Nsereko, the resident district commissioner, has said.

Currently, there is only one ferry - MV Kalangala, operating the Kampala-Kalangala islands route.

“The two new, ‘modern and reliable’ ferries will work concurrently with MV Kalangala at the Nakiwogo landing site,” Nsereko added.

He said the ferries would help islanders, to ease the hardships over transport.

“Recently, when MV Kalangala was not working, the movement of people and goods was affected,” noted. MV Kalangala had gone for periodic mandatory docking inspection in Mwanza, Tanzania.

The vessel underwent minor repairs and resumed operations last month.

“The ministry of Transport & Works is committed to maintaining effective transport services in the country,” Susan Kataike, the works ministry spokesperson, said recently.

Uganda targets 1million tourists by 2012

By Paul Tentena

UGANDA Tourism Board (UTB) has set a target of a million tourists by 2012, according to a top official.

William Byaruhanga, the board chairman, explained last week that this would be achieved by expanding the scope of products provided, and entice tourists to stay longer with attractive packages.

“We shall maximally tap our potential in the sector in terms of investment and arrivals,” Byaruhanga stated.

Byaruhanga said Uganda received 642,000 tourists last year but noted the need to improve the country’s presence and marketing initiatives across the globe.

“We intend to expand our activities within Europe and also target new markets like the US and Asia this year. The Ugandan stand design shall be consistently improved to be competitive at different exhibitions as we benchmark best practices internationally,” he stressed.

On the country’s staggering image abroad, Byaruhanga observed: “Branding and positioning takes a while regardless of our past history and it requires consistency and sufficient funding.
“International marketing requires huge sums of money to change our past image in the source markets and we shall get there with good marketing strategies.

“Every country has its history that is what distinguishes us as people. Germany gets millions of visitors annually regardless of Hitler’s activities in the past.”

Commenting on the issue of the “Gifted by Nature” brand and the “Pearl of Africa” tagline preferred by the private sector, Byaruhanga said “A brand is a perception or mindset. Therefore, the two brands can be pushed and used to compliment each other instead of cannibalising each other.

“Both brands have not been fully tested to come out with clear conclusions about usage mileage.

“However ‘Gifted by Nature’ stretches beyond tourism to other sectors like trade. A branding strategy has been finalised and is set to be rolled out, finances being a factor.

“Consultations have been ongoing to solve the differences of the two brands.”

Byaruhanga said Uganda will host four regional domestic tourism exhibitions in Uganda given the credit crunch in Europe, which is the major market.
“We shall also design family, corporate and individual packages that are affordable and attractive to our people.

“It should be noted that tourism is the fastest growing sector world wide at 8% and indeed in Uganda as well. Tourism has a perfect trickle down effect and can be key in fighting poverty hence the need to prioritise it.”

Destination Branding: Does Uganda have a Tourism Brand?

By Tukamushaba Kurobuza Eddy

Lecturer Makerere University Business School

PhD Candidate in Destination branding

I would like to refer to the article that appeared on October 16, 2008 in The New Vision page 48 titled “Drop Gifted by Nature Brand” by Paul Tentana. I do not particularly agree with the view that Uganda has a tourism brand! The problem I see from this article that the refers to “Gifted by nature”, “The pearl of Africa” as tourism brands. I would like to agree with Mr. James Bahinguza, the Tourism Uganda Manager who was quoted as saying “Gifted by nature is not selling anywhere and giving a reason that every country is gifted by nature in one way or another!

Whereas I agree with him on that point, he also seems to suggest that “The Pearl of Africa” would be the best tourism brand for Uganda!

Let me first appreciate all individuals who came up with these ideas, but I think we are getting this wrong when we continually use these concepts as tourism brands. In my view, they are good to be used as a basis to brand Uganda as a tourist destination not brands as they are being portrayed. This means there is still a lot to be done by Tourism Uganda charged with the responsibility of marketing Uganda as a tourist destination.

As a Scholar, allow me to share my ideas towards getting a better brand name for Uganda’s tourism industry.

Let’s first imagine France without fashion, Germany without automotive excellence, and Japan without consumer electronics. The argument here is that the image we have of another country says a lot about how we view it as a tourist destination, as a place to invest or as a source of consumer goods and services. In the same way as a company brand, a place’s reputation needs to be built on qualities that are positive, attractive, unique, sustainable and relevant to many consumers.

As with any brand, nations as well as destinations have individual fingerprints that are unique. From language to skin colour, to music and art style, to customs and religion, no two places are exactly alike, and this uniqueness gives power to a place brand.

Most places have long felt a need to differentiate themselves from one another, to assert their individuality in pursuit of various economic, political or socio-psychological objectives.

The conscious attempt of governments to shape a specifically designed place identity and promote it to identified markets (whether external or internal) is almost as old as civic government itself. The acts of communication that a place can perform include; the products that it exports; the way it promotes itself for trade, tourism, inward investment and inward recruitment; the way it behaves in acts of domestic and foreign policy; and the ways in which these acts are communicated.

In essence, a place branding consists of developing an image and communicating it based on the positive values and perceptions of the place. The core values of a place brand can affect everything from positioning to differentiation of the place’s many products and services.

Today, a range of consumer brands deliberately promote their place of origin to benefit from associations and equity grounded in their provenance to achieve competitive advantage.

Country or place brands are by no means simple to build. Unlike product branding, place branding is seldom under the control of a central authority and it involves multiple stakeholders, often with competing interests. People may learn about any place (country, region or city) in school, from media sources, from purchases, from trips or from contact with citizens or former residents. News coverage and popular cultural entertainment such as films, television programs and literature can provide substantial information about a place. These can alter an area’s image dramatically, even in a short period of time. For these reasons brand strategists have to exploit such avenues towards creating a winning tourism brand for Uganda.

As for any brand, image and associations are at the core of a place brand. Due to challenges in management of the image, Formation process of places, a basic question to be asked in place branding is therefore the need to initiate co-operative umbrella branding programs to promote Uganda as a tourist destination. This strategy has worked (i.e. India), while for others it has failed and it needs concerted effort by all tourism stakeholders.

India is a story of success, because it has emerged in the last years in terms of perceptions in a different way from how it was perceived a decade ago. It was spirituality and poverty; now it is software and highly educated people.

Knowing what Uganda is famous for would be a beginning point. For example “A home of mountain Gorillas”! which would be appealing to a targeted market.

Lastly, similar to a company brand, a place branding strategy must be based on a clearly defined vision, which is firmly rooted in the existing policies, resources, capabilities, motivations and perceptions of the place. It is essential for the stakeholders of the place to create and share this vision, and work jointly towards determining how it will be achieved.

I believe Ugandans know better their country and together with our partners we can brand Uganda and start enjoying the full benefits from the tourism industry.

Uganda's Star Attraction - Gorilla gorilla beringei

By Baluku Geoffrey

Kampala, Uganda

Gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans and humans all belong to the order primates. Humans share 98.4% of their genetic material with gorillas and 98.8% with chimpanzees. Gorillas; the largest of the great Apes are divided into three subspecies that include the western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and the eastern lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla graueri). The eastern and western lowland gorillas were identified for science in 1847 and 1877 respectively.

The third sub specie – the Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei) was identified for science purposes in the year 1903 and has gone on to become Uganda’s star attraction. Mountain gorillas are physically distinct from lowland gorillas. They are larger, have much hair, a short trunk, a broad chest / shoulders and also have a longer / slightly different nose shape.

They are born small, covered with black hair and usually weigh about 2.3 kilograms. Gorillas develop about as twice as human babies with the mature female mother also under going a gestation period of 9 months. They are unique species; as a gorilla with an infant may not have another baby up to four years – good family planning.

Male and female young gorillas between the ages of three and six are classed as juvenile. During this period, both the male and female gorillas have a black skin and thick black hair and usually weigh about 2.3 kilograms. They increase in size and weight at similar rates for the first six years. On reaching six years; most Mountain gorillas weigh about 68 kilograms and are usually about 4 feet tall.

The female Mountain gorilla stop growing taller as they mature at around six years, this is as opposed to the male Mountain gorillas that continue growing both in size and weight past the age of six till they reach the ages of ten to eleven.

Between the ages of six and ten years, male gorillas have a black hair colour and are thus referred to as the Blackbucks. On reaching maturity which is usually between 10 and 12 years, the male Mountain Gorillas develop silvery grey hairs on their backs thereby being referred to as Silverbacks.

The Silverback usually leave their parental group at the age of 11 and then moves alone or in the company of other males for a few years before managing to attract females from other groups to him hence forming his own family. Silver back is a dominant male in a group of about 12 or more gorillas that usually include females, juveniles and other infants.

On a good day, you will find them chewing leaves, laughing and farting not only continuously but with a lot of contentment. They are diurnal (nomadic), sleeping each night in a fresh nest built from leaves and branches. Mountain gorillas are primarily vegetarian with their menu comprising bamboo, nettles and gallium being some of their favorite.

They occasionally also eat safari ants which are scooped in huge handfuls to stuff into the mouth until the safari ant bites over power them. Gorillas spend most of their time traveling and foraging in search of food since plants and trees change with seasons.

Gorillas communicate through vocalizations. Twenty five distinct vocalizations have so far been recognized with each one having its own particular meaning. As an element of their socialization, they communicate through howls, grunts, barks and hoots. Screams and roars signal alarm or warning and are often produced by silverbacks. They also communicate by beating on their chests or on the ground. This is done to show stature, prevent a fight or even scare off opponents. However, even the infants beat their chests as a kind of displacement activity during play perhaps just to copy their elders.

Mountain gorilla life is peaceful and quite. It is from this that they have come to be called Africa’s Gentle Giants.

These gentle giants are found in the areas of Parc des Volcans – Rwanda and Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) while in Uganda, they are confined to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park and Bwindi “impenetrable” Forest National park.

Bwindi “impenetrable” Forest National park is situated in south western Uganda on the edge of western rift valley (Albertine rift) and is shared by Kanungu, Kabale and Kisoro districts. It is 331 square kilometers in size; on an altitude range of 1,160 metres (Ishasha gorge) to 2607 metres (Rwamanyonyi peak).

According to the census carried out between April and June 2006, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park now has a total of 30 gorilla groups. Of the 30 groups, five are habituated of which four are utilized for tourism while one is used for research. The total number of gorillas in Bwindi is 340 which is almost over half of the total estimated 720 Mountain gorillas in the world. The park was gazzetted in 1992 as a National park and is now a UNESCO world heritage site.

It is now on record that Gorilla trekking provides over 50% of tourism revenue for Uganda thus being a strong reason for their protection.

Currently, even with the conservation efforts being implemented so as to protect Africa’s Gentle Giants – the Mountain Gorillas, several media reports continue indicating that these species are on the decline. A case in point is a BBC report (September 2007) whhere it was reported that “Gorillas head race to extinction”. The reasoning was that in light of the massive movement of people in the region and growing “insecurity” in the virunga area could be among the causes of the death of 9 mountain gorillas that have been killed from the start of this year.

Uncertainty continues over who kills them and a mystery remains in the hearts of conservationists as to why it’s done. There is an urgent need for conservationists and the governments of Uganda, Rwanda and DRC to explore the missing gaps so as to save these endangered animals.

Tourism: Time to re brand Uganda

By Geoffrey Baluku

Kampala – Uganda

IN 2007, almost 642,000 tourists visited Uganda compared to 540,000 in 2006. This number is considered the highest Uganda has ever experienced and thus represents an increase of almost 19% over the year before.

Tourism brought $449m into the economy in 2007 compared to $375m in 2006. It is presumed that over all each visitor to Uganda spends about $750 per visit thus the tourism industry’s contribution to the GDP has increased from 1.98% in 2006 to 2.33 % in 2007.

This is an indication that the tourism industry is not only continuing to grow but is also now recognized at the highest level for its significant impact on the Ugandan economy albeit the under-funding.

It is common knowledge that every visitor to Uganda who has a good experience in the country will attract five more to visit. But every visitor who gets a bad experience will discourage 10 people from visiting the country. Thus to attract visitors and keep them coming back, Uganda’s tourism industry must live to its reputation of variety and value as enshrined in its slogan, “The Pearl of Africa”.

The tourism product is more or less a dream. Thus the capability of tourism businesses to deliver what they promise and in a bid to satisfy customer expectations depends upon sound management practices. These can be achieved if we built on our brand name and collectively owned it.

At the moment Uganda has an uncoordinated and fragmented brand identity. Some are now referring to Uganda as “Africa’s friendliest Country” others “Gifted by Nature” while others refer to Uganda as” The Pearl of Africa" which to most of us still stands out from the new coined slogans.

We cannot say that we exclusively own brands such as “Gifted by Nature” or “Africa’s friendliest Country”.

Several countries the world over are friendly and gifted by nature. And in any case this brand “Gifted by Nature” leaves us at risk of losing our most treasured cultures as opposed to a brand name like “The Pearl of Africa” which is all-embracing.

At one of the stakeholders’ meetings called by the Ministry of Tourism to enlighten us on the importance of embracing MICE, the former state minister for tourism Hon. Jovino Akaki, asked if our country should be marketed as “The Pearl of Africa” or “Gifted by Nature”. Which is which? To answer the above, those who came preferred “Gifted by Nature” made one mistake!

They did not do an audit of the brand “The Pearl of Africa”, thus leading to the current confusion. Those who coined the slogan “Gifted by Nature”, did they also plan to change the national anthem? When you listen to the national anthem, the writer must have had “Pearl of Africa” at the back of his mind.

Marketers’ know that a good brand will surely project Uganda’s strengths while recognizing its weaknesses. I strongly feel that re-branding to our original slogan “The Pearl of Africa” will enable us re-position ourselves well on the international market.

However, this will necessitate the government to lead the way in the re-branding process. We all know that media organizations world over can not create a good brand for our country. They always seem to be more interested in “bad news” such as civil strife and disasters. If Ugandans can recall; late last year we hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). The presence of top media organizations was an opportunity for our country to be known globally.

However, when the top media houses (Sky News, CNN) and many others reached here, they headed north and east and started covering the floods and lifestyles of the people in the internally displaced people’s camps! If my memory serves me well, Al Jazeera is one of the few that briefly showcased the CHOGM event.

Focused marketers/planners would have “forced” or given free offers to these top media houses to visit our marvelous nationals parks and cultural sites. To my dismay, the organizers were busy dining with them instead of exploiting the opportunities at hand.

There were good organizing committees having lots of money to spend without prioritizing the expenses. For political mileage, yes CHOGM was a success. But I have reservations to the overall benefit of the event to the tourism industry in Uganda.

In light of the above, there is need for the government of Uganda to re-invest in its brand as well as management and promotion of that brand. Government will need to create a public-private sector partnership if this is to be achieved.

Tour operators, hoteliers, and other small and medium scale tourism enterprises must be involved as this will enable everyone to own the brand thereby naturally promoting it.

What we are having at the moment is those few that are for “Gifted by Nature” while the majority still believe the best brand is “The Pearl of Africa”. We will also need to do more than re-branding if we are to capture the international market.

Any serious government will have to reconsider having a national carrier. Look at successful tourist destinations in Africa. Airline brands complement national brands. For instance Kenya is supplemented by the ‘pride of Africa’ inscribed on all Kenya airways flights; Air Tanzania, ‘the wings of Kilimanjaro’ to mention but a few.

However, now that the tourism bill was passed by parliament and due to be enacted into law, we need to start by restructuring UTB (now re- branded as Tourism Uganda).

As the marketing organ for Uganda’s tourism; emphasis should be on creating/ strengthening the research department. More so, realizing that we are now in a “global village” with the internet as the main mode of communication and marketing; there is need to employ few but well paid staff that not only have knowledge in global tourism trends but also some training/ knowledge in information technology.

This industry is now more of website-based thus marketing through this mode is the most ideal option.

As we reposition ourselves, we also need to ask some questions:

* Which markets are we organizing ourselves to win?

* How do we target them?

* Where will the guests /tourists stay when they visit our national parks?

My focus for now will be on the last question. Most of our national parks are now exclusively operated by a few individuals with lodges. Matters are even made worse by the management agreements Uganda Wildlife Authority has signed with these ‘investors’.

Agreements for exclusivity have been signed covering not only big chunks of the park land but also stretching over periods of over 20 years! If we are to all benefit from our resources, there needs to be equitable use of these resources.

The Government not only needs to increase funding to Tourism Uganda (Formerly UTB) but it should also strengthen the boards’ research department as this will help us understand visitor needs, perceptions as well as obstacles as we plan to market.