Road to selling East Africa as one hot travel destination

Kampala. The recent culmination of the seventh Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE) event held at the Commonwealth Resort in Uganda has seen a lot of issues surrounding East African tourism and African tourism at large come to light.

This being the seventh edition of the show and the first in-person event held post-Covid-19, Uganda, much like her East African Community neighbours, was eager to get back on the grind and put together an event that brought exhibitors and buyers to do business as well as hold seminar sessions with experts in the fields of sustainable tourism, financing tourism, emerging trends, innovation, creativity in tourism, and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism, which has taken up a good chunk of the tourism pie.

In a chat with The Citizen, Dr Lilly Arajova, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), spoke in depth about inclusive and sustainable tourism in the region and strategies in place to sell not just Uganda but East Africa as a destination, banking on the unique features each member state of the East African Community has to offer and the single tourism visa that guarantees travellers access across the bloc.

For many of us, talk about tourism in East Africa is often associated with Tanzania and Kenya as frontrunners, leaving Uganda and Rwanda trailing behind in conversation and Burundi, South Sudan, and the DRC hardly being in the same sentence.

This state of being has got to change. “Uganda is known as the pearl of Africa because it has the depth, range, and variety of all that Africa has to offer,” Dr Ajarova explains. “This includes her rare products, such as the wildlife that is only endemic to Uganda; endangered wildlife such as the mountain gorillas, of which 54 percent call Uganda home; the big seven, which are the big five we all know of plus the mountain gorillas and chimpanzees; the only forest in the world where you will find two of the biggest apes in the world; the source of the Nile; and the Rwenzori mountains, which are the highest altitude mountains with permanent snow sitting on the equator.” Owing to the vast offerings that the country presents, the plan now is to get to a point where all East African member states can be sold as one destination with unique offerings.

To sell any place as an attractive destination, one must have good storytellers in place, and the UTB has been very intentional in engaging media across the globe, market destination representatives, and active participation in global tourism expos such as the ILTM, World Trade Market London (WTM), WTM Africa, Magical Kenya, and S!TE, amongst others.

“In 2017, East Africa was launched as a single destination at ITB Berlin, and until 2019, there had been an East Africa as one destination exhibition at the show,” shares Dr Ajarova. “When Covid-19 hit, a lot was derailed, and three years later, we are still working on getting back to where we were.”

“Part of these efforts is bringing other East African destinations on board and being able to get back to East Africa as one destination, with each member state’s unique features brought to light,” she adds.

“When we sell Africa together, we get the money together,” said the President of the Uganda Tourism Association, Mr Herbert Byaruhanga.

Working in tandem

For tourism in this region to not only grow but thrive and outlive us for generations to come, Dr Ajarova encourages working in synchrony and coordination to complement one another.

EA tourist visa: Taking a leaf out of the European tourism book, a single regional tourist visa goes a long way in producing travellers who would be willing to go to more destinations with a visa that gives them access to more than just one country. “We have revised our market. We are not looking for tourists; rather, we are looking for travellers,” said Dr Ajarova. “Travellers take more time to immerse themselves in what the destination has to offer and experience the country more.”

Longer stays by these travellers mean more income, further making tourism a major economic driver.

Currently, the only countries in the bloc that have been enjoying the benefits of this partnership are Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda.

Inter and intra-regional tourism: The single tourist visa doesn’t only simplify access for international tourists. Ease of access will also stimulate domestic travel. “Our market isn’t just international travellers but Africans as well, especially those within the region,” she explained. Licenced operators: In tourism, the standards of the services offered are what make or break a country’s reputation.

As such, having licenced operators across the sector is crucial to developing a well-functioning sector.

To credibly sell the destination or host visitors, all service providers across the chain, from booking agents to hotels, tour guides, and more, must be vetted and licenced by the board.

Tourism is evidently a pot of gold if done right, and it is evident in how countries are rebranding their packages, such as Uganda with ‘Explore Uganda, The Pearl of Africa,” Kenya with ‘Magical Kenya,” Rwanda with ‘Visit Rwanda,” and Tanzania with ‘Tanzania Unforgettable’.

The task at hand then is, “How can it be done right?”