UGANDA TOURIST BOARD

www.visituganda.com

Background

Uganda Tourist Board (UTB) is a statutory organisation established by the Uganda Tourist Board Statute 1994. The Board's mandate is to promote and popularise Uganda as a viable holiday destination both locally and internationally in order to:

1. Increase the contribution of tourism earnings and GDP



2. Improve Uganda's competitiveness as an international tourism destination



3. Increase Uganda's share of Africa's and World tourism market.

Objectives of the Board

In pursuit of the above mandate, the functions of the Board are:

1. Increase the quality and volume of tourist arrivals and their expenditures.



2. Improve on the marketing and promotion of Uganda as a tourist destination.



3. Provide of accurate and timely information services on the country's tourist attractions and facilities.



4. Strengthen its capacity for tourism planning, research and marketing.? How



5. Improve and diversify in consultation with stakeholders' tourist products.



6. Enhance and strengthen competitiveness of the private sector in the tourism industry.

Overview of Performance for 2003/2004

1. Tourism Awareness Campaign:
   1. Local tourism exhibition held at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre Entebbe in September 2003 as part of the activities to commemorate the World Tourism Day;
   
   
   
   2. Established a system for weekly publication of positive features articles on the country's tourism attractions, in the local press, especially The New Vision and The Monitor.



2. Image Building:

   In partnership with the private sector, the Board participated in the following international tourism exhibitions:

   1. British Bird Watching Fair in United Kingdom - August 2003.
   
   
   
   2. The World Travel Market in UK - November 2003.
   
   
   
   3. Vakantiebeurs 2004 in the Netherlands - January 2004.
   
   
   
   4. In July 2003, Discovery Channel made a film on Uganda. The Presidential Tour of Uganda was released in the USA late 2003 and shown from 25th May 2004 in Africa and Europe, Middle East and the Far East. The film has had a positive impact in the USA.
   
   
   
   5. In November 2003, Uganda Tourist Board joined the Ministerial Trade Delegation to Norway where new Tour Operators interested in selling the country have been identified.
   
   
   
   6. The Board attended the Indaba Tourism Fair in South Africa as a trade visitor.

   In 2003/2004, Uganda reduced its participation in the international tourism Trade Fairs from six to three due to financial constraints. Consequently, a few Uganda businessmen participated and, correspondingly, fewer business protocols were concluded.

Constraints and limitations to performance:

The major problems affecting the performance of Uganda Tourist Board are:

1. Perceived and actual insecurity in some parts of the country.



2. Inability to provide "value for money" by some tour operators, travel agents and accommodation facility providers.



3. The current worldwide threat of terrorism and the consequent negative travel advices by foreign missions.



4. Inadequate funding for the Board.

Strategy of Tourism marketing development

The Successful marketing of Uganda in the market place requires an effective partnership between the public and private sector. While UTB may have a lead role in destination marketing and in creating promotional opportunities for the Ugandan industry, the sale of the product to the trade and consumer is almost entirely the responsibility of the private sector tourism service providers.

In order to encourage greater partnership with it, the industry in marketing and promotional campaigns, it is important to encourage joint public/private sector promotional opportunities, improve communications and provides more market intelligence and user-friendly research.

Based on the varying needs, structures and stage of development of individual markets and the limitations of resources, each market will be approached with a mix of marketing activities best suited to market conditions. For example, in some markets, the campaigns may include both consumer and trade promotional activities such as advertising, publicity, trade and consumer promotions whereas in other markets, the focus may be exclusively on working with the travel trade.

In order to maximise the effectiveness of the limited resources - budgets and capable personnel - a consistent approach will require that resources are allocated on the basis of a prioritisation of markets that offer the best potential for tourist earnings.