Ugandan Tourism Sector Lightens Dark Continent

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. October 14, 2008

APRIL 10. 2007. During the last 30 years movies like "Raid on Entebbe", "Hotel Rwanda", "Blood Diamond", and "The Last King of Scotland" have played out on our screens, portraying a region of the world wrought with conflict, strife, political thuggery, poverty and despair. Not a pretty picture and certainly not appealing to tourists.

But somehow Uganda is turning it all around and becoming a travel destination. Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdury, an Under Secretary at the UN, shared his thoughts on the hospitality industry's impact on a nation's economic and cultural growth as he said, "The tourism industry employs one out of every 11 people. It is an effective vehicle for a message of peace. We can take care of Afro-pessimism through Afro tourism."

Tourism is indeed a big catalyst for change. In Uganda, the second largest industry after coffee export is tourism. Thousands of visitors experienced Uganda's exquisite natural offerings which include 1,100 species of birds and Africa's largest body of water, Lake Victoria, and all needed a place to stay.

Uganda's Ambassador, H.E. Francis K. Butagira, expects even more visitors this year, saying, "Tourism is our second biggest industry, it's a rapid growth industry, we had 600,000 visitors last year and expect 85 percent growth this year. We have a big interest in tourism and need to have hotels to house everyone. We've got five star hotels up and running and others under construction."

The Ambassador, and his hotel partners like Speke Resorts, Serena Hotels (which just opened a five star property in the country's capital, Kampala) and Hilton (which is underway with a new hotel in Kampala) recognize the increase in tourism as a positive for the country's advancement and are poised to accommodate he rise in visitation. As the geopolitical picture changes, the country's economy has shifted into a liberalized market economy where 100 percent foreign investment is allowed. That's of great appeal to companies and the perfect opportunity for expanding a brand into an untapped region.

Louis D'Amore, Founder and President of International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT), finds this part of the world very appealing. So appealing that he is holding his fourth African conference at the Kampala Serena Hotel this May. He explains why they will be in Kampala, "Poverty reduction and global tourism is a focus of IIPT and we explore the role of tourism in reconciliation of conflict. When you look at Uganda you see that they are in the center of much of the conflict that is going on in the region. Yet Uganda has been showing very good leadership as a nation, their AIDS program has been held up as a model, the tourism growth potential over the last ten years has been amazing, it has gone form roughly 40,000 travelers to approximately 600,000 travelers and they are projecting to reach a million in the next two to three years. And why at Serena?

He continues, "One of the reasons we're doing it there [at this particular hotel] is Serena. The chain is owned by the Aga Kahn and the company has dedicated itself to economic development and to economic growth; it's a model of a corporate enterprise trying to make a contribution. On a significant scale. And, in addition to the economic aspects of it, they put great attention to being correct environmentally."

Economic development, cultural understanding and appreciation, poverty reduction, and environmental protections seem like very good reasons for any hotel company to join their colleagues, Hilton, Intercontinental, Serena and others, in making Uganda a viable tourist destination and being part of its soaring growth.