UTB CEO says Uganda’s tourism needs to be more competitive globally to achieve sustainability

The Uganda Tourism Board Chief Executive Officer, Lily Ajarova has said the country’s tourism sector ought to be more competitive globally in order to achieve the sustainability it needs.

Ajarova made the remarks on Monday during the function to launch the Tourism Excellence Uganda Project organized by the Association of Uganda Tour Operators Association (AUTO), at Skyz hotel in Naguru.

“With growth in the sector, there is need to ensure more capacity is built so as to be more competitive globally. It is important we beat the competition we are up to,”Ajarova said.

“We need to position ourselves as the number one sought after tourist destination in Africa but this can only be done through improving the quality of service we offer to the tourists that come and that way, we can be able to achieve sustainability.”

Tourism was Uganda’s biggest foreign exchange earner for the year 2018 contributing $1.4 billion which translated into 7.7% of the country’s GDP

The Uganda Tourism Board CEO said that as government, it emphasizes tourism as the primary sector to drive the transformation of the country to the middle-income status noting that they will continue supporting the sector.

“We are trying to position tourism as one of the most important sectors in the country. Our priorities is marketing and building our destination brand. We need to reposition ourselves in the market.”

“There is need to regulate the quality of service in the sector. It is our mandate to regulate the tourism sector to have systems in place but the private sector also has a role to play.”

Gloria Tumwesigye, the Association of Uganda Tour Operators CEO said there is need for stakeholders in the tourism sector to rethink the tourism they develop.

“We must take responsibility and action to make tourism more sustainable. It is without doubt that the tourism industry competes with other activities for resources but it can also complement those same activities and this is where tour operators and other tourism players should present a firm ground,” Tumwesigye said.

According to Judy Kepher-Gona from the Sustainable Travel Tourism Agenda, it is high time tourism enthusiasts thought about the way they do tourism or else a number of economies depending on tourism would collapse.

She said there is need to see how to sustain tourism other than looking at the profits they get out of the sector.

“In the past, tourists bought products by just looking at the prices but now they look at the offers. Travelers are now examining the products against their values. Travelers don’t just consider transport and bedding but rather the quality of destinations,” Judy said.

She noted that communities ought to be involved in tourism, other than leaving them out, a thing she said greatly affects the sector.

She cited an example of poaching which she said is done by nearby communities simply because they have not been involved in tourism for their own benefit and end up hunting for the animals from the national parks.

“If we have happy communities, we will not have happy destinations. It should not be only about the five- star hotels but also the quality of service. We need to integrate communities so they can embrace tourism and help it thrive.”

“The policies we have as governments also matter. It makes no sense having good tourism infrastructure but the forest cover keeps on reducing. It is the forest cover that would bring in tourists and in order to ensure sustainability, there should be deliberate policies to promote tourism,” Judy said.

The Tourism Excellency Uganda Project will help equip tour operators under their umbrella body, AUTO and hoteliers under their body, the Uganda Hotel Owners Association with skills in ensuring the promotion of tourism sustainability.

The project was launched in partnership with Europe based sustainability company, Tourcert and Kenya’s Sustainability  Travel and Tourism Agenda with support by the Austrian Development Agency.