Uganda taps into international leisure market of tourists

Ten international hosted buyers with reputable tour companies have traversed different parts of Uganda including national parks but with an inclination to accommodation facilities. 

The group which was hosted from October 22-28, 2023 was mainly coming from the incentive travel market in different countries.

Flying from Entebbe Airport to Kasese Aerodrome, the group were taken for chimpanzee tracking in Kibale National Park before visiting Queen Elizabeth National Park for lifetime expeditions including game drives and boat cruise.

They were later taken to Bwindi National Park for gorilla tracking among other community expeditions. At the end of their wild saunter, they were flown back to Kampala for urban engagements and meetings with the private sector.

Incentive hosted buyers being taken through the local process of making juice out of bananas before it is fermented into local brew and later, strong gin

The team consisted of Agnieszka Lewandowska, Anna Tyburksa, Grzegorz Niec, Tim Brouwer and Manuel Eyland. Others were Abhishek, Mittal, Brigita Deveikaite, Benedikt Kristinsson and Hendra Wijaya, among others from countries such as Sweden, Indonesia, Poland, Belgium, Lithuania, India, UK and Germany. 

The group was hosted by the Uganda Convention Bureau, a unit under the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) that promotes Uganda as a business destination. UTB met the expenses of their inland travel, while the hosted buyers paid for their air tickets from their respective countries to Uganda.

Melon Tukikiriza, who heads the bureau, said the buyers hosted for one week were mainly coming from the incentive travel market. An incentive is a reward programme given to staff by big corporations upon meeting targets. 

"This kind of market is especially from developed countries where companies, corporations and organisations always offer trips to staff or board members. So, the group hosted, comprised big tour operators who have been organising such trips and are now interested in opening routes to Africa. We, therefore, had to position ourselves as a destination for such a luxurious venture," Tukikiriza said.

Paul Mugabo, the brand officer under the bureau, said the hosted buyers were first met through different international expos and were qualified upon expressing interest in selling Uganda as a destination for meetings, incentives, conferences, conventions, events and exhibitions (MICE).

"There were so many buyers who had expressed interest in marketing Uganda to their clients. We found these ones to be more fitting within our programme but also expect to bring others on board in the near future," Mugabo added. 

The hosted group inspected accommodation facilities near the tourist attractions, with the aim of assessing the capacity of such facilities in hosting high-end clientele. As per the research for the Events Industry Council of 2019, on average, an incentive buyer spends $890 (over shillings 3 million) per day.

UTB spokesperson Simplicious Gessa said the hosted buyers also wanted to understand the strength of Uganda's private sector with whom they hope to keep the business transcending. The team held a networking cocktail with members of the private sector as a climax of their tour to Uganda on Saturday.

However, several of the hosted buyers decided to stay in Uganda for extended days to immerse themselves in the environment for a better feel and understanding of the Pearl of Africa.

Gessa further remarked that UTB initiated the process by hosting the buyers but it's the private sector that will eventually carry on the engagement and business with these international buyers. 

Tukikiriza on the other hand intimated that such activities shall be done annually through the bureau and followed up by the UTB research officer.

Generally, it was the first time for all the hosted buyers to visit Uganda. They were amazed by the rich biodiversity that the country is endowed with and promised to open up routes to Uganda. 

Meanwhile, Benedikt Kristinsson from Sweden and Iceland prayed for improved network services in Uganda's upcountry areas, as well as improved infrastructure such as roads.

"Uganda should make a strong presence on the internet as a strong current marketing tool. But such a presence may not be felt if some of these areas with rich attractions have no network connection," he observed.

Benedikt is one of the hosted buyers who extended their stay in Uganda at his own cost, for more engagements in the tourism business.

Following President Yoweri Museveni's directive recently, the tourism ministry, in partnership with the Uganda National Roads Authority and the Uganda Road Fund, is developing an emergency road maintenance programme to expedite the implementation of the state of tourism roads among other infrastructure such as regional aerodromes and new airports.

The current statistics by the Uganda tourism satellite account 2023 indicate that the tourism sector has registered 19.3% of arrivals in Uganda for holidays, leisure and recreation. 40.9% for business tourism, 28.2% for visiting friends and relatives and 11.6% for other reasons.

Tourism remains one of the fastest-growing sectors in the country and has previously contributed to over $1.6b and accounted for 7.7% of the country's gross domestic product.