Kato established a tour company with less than Shs1 million

Although Kato had a wealth of determination and knowledge, he was short on cash to the extent that registering his business was done in bits.

But because he had determination and patience, Adventure, Culture and Nature Holidays (ACN) was registered in 2010, taking another full year before starting operations in 2011.

Just like many startups, Kato hawked his business in a briefcase with his only possession being a laptop and an internet modem.

Favourite joints
His favourite joints were coffee shops and public spaces, where he could think away on his laptop for ways through which he could break into the already crowded tour and travel market.

In cases where Kato could chance on a client, he would look around to outsource the service that would involve hiring a vehicle and a tour guide to take the visitor around to agreed upon sites.

“It was a tough beginning but we are now getting there,” Kato, a bachelor of Tourism graduate narrates to Prosper in an interview.

ACN’s strength, according to Kato, lies in organising cultural expeditions, trips to national parks as well as taking tourists for nature walks in several parts of the country.

“I never wanted to work under anyone for long and I thought three years was enough time for me to get hands-on experience that could help me run my own company,” Kato, a Makerere University graduate explains.

In 2010, Kato resigned from his job as a tour manager after three years. “This was my turning point and perhaps the beginning of my fortunes.

Three years down the lane, Kato has made great strides in the tourism industry, with his firm’s worth estimated at about Shs100 million. In addition, the firm’s asset base has also increased to include three tour vehicles and an office.

Improving client numbers
His client number has also improved substantially from about two tourist groups of five to six tourists about two years ago to more than 30 groups today and he expects the numbers to improve further, supported by the growth of the tourism sector.

According to data tourist numbers have grown from 844,000 in 2011 to 1.2 million in 2012. Kato employs at least three people, including an administrator and an accountant to control the firm’s finances

According to Kato, the desire to have a brighter future, accumulate wealth and the need to discover new bird species has driven him to work harder while he is still young and energetic.

“I don’t want to work for money, I want money to work for me and that can only be possible if I grow the business to greater heights,” he says.

He adds that because of the quality of service offered, most of his clients are either referrals – recommended by tourists who have enjoyed the services he offers.

ACN mainly survives on online and word of mouth marketing although Kato has plans to take part in international tourism festivals and expos in order to attract bigger tourist numbers.

His path to success
Apart from being a dedicated professional, Kato says quality of service, affordable packages as well as the passion for tourism and love for nature and tourism in general has helped him stay afloat despite of the tough competition in the industry.

“Succeeding in tourism zeros down to how one feels about what they do. My love for tourism dates back to my childhood and I have always been a member of wildlife clubs of Uganda. That is why I have persisted in the business despite challenges.”

“Many tour companies which started at the same time with ACN Holidays have since closed shop we are still surviving and growing strong,” he explains.

Kato who says most of his clients are repeating guests adds: “At ACN, we have principals that govern us; we are soft on people but tough on principal that’s why professionalism is paramount to us. We ensure that we engage our clients to offer value for money services.”

The firm has also shown some signs of inventiveness with service additions including sunset cruises to its product list.

The firm recently launched sunset cruises, in partnership with Adrift Uganda, to enable tourists enjoy boat cruises even after sunset and also do water rafting.

Challenges
Achievements notwithstanding, Kato has also faced a number of challenges, including low tourist numbers, the increasing cost of business and tough competition.

According to Kato, the tour operators business is also full of uncertainties yet tourists who visit plan in advance and want a good service as promised while booking. “Tourists who have booked for a service rarely would listen to concerns of any changes in due course. They want to be offered the service they booked for no matter the changes,” he says.

Limited government support in marketing the country as a destination of choice is the other challenge Kato says affects tourism as most companies have to do most of the marketing on their own.

Thus he says, the government needs to allocate adequate resources to market the country as a destination of choice in key source markets.

Despite tourism being one of the leading foreign exchange earners, it receives meager funding from the government that cannot fully facilitate the sector’s marketing activities as a premium destination in key tourism source markets.

Meagre funding
For instance, in the current financial year, the tourism budget was slashed from Shs10.9 billion in the 2012/13 financial year to Shs10.761 billion. Allocation to the Uganda Tourism Board – a body charged with marketing and branding Uganda as a preferred tourists destination was cut to Shs1.4 billion from Shs1.8 billion.

Kenya, on the other hand, invests about Shs58 billion [$23 million] in marketing the country’s tourism destination, whereas Tanzania invests about Shs25 billion [$10 million] and about Shs12 billion [$5 million] for Rwanda.

Despite limited marketing and inadequate infrastructure, the tourism sector fetched Uganda about Shs2.7 trillion [$1 billion] in revenue last year, up from about Shs2 trillion [$805 million] the previous year, according to the World Bank 2012 Economic and Statistical Analysis of Tourism in Uganda.

Kato further notes that the recently introduced project to sale gorilla permits online is threatening the existence of tour operators and might force most of them out of business.

“Why introduce a new project and operationalise it immediately without sensitising stakeholders on how it works. This is not good for the industry. The Uganda Wildlife Authority should either first train tour operators on how the project will work or halt its implementation,” he says.

Plans
Although he is fully established, Kato is yet to employ permanent tour guides for his firm, and still relies on outsourcing from the Uganda Safari Guides Association due to financial constraints.

However, he intends to recruit and train his own guides in future.

He also plans to expand into accommodation by constructing a hotel of his own, in addition to acquiring boats to support his boat cruise business.

Re-investing
He intends to achieve the above by reinvesting profits into the business.

However, Herbert Byaruhanga, the president Uganda Tourism Association, says developing a sustainable tourism business calls for putting in place policies that are supportive with the aim of focusing on transforming start-ups into middle class tourism business enterprises.

Supporting locals
“This should cut across all stages from registration to taxation. We need to abandon policies that chase away would-be domestic investors and adopt those that encourage local participation in tourism in order to create employment,” he says.

He adds: “Most of the tour companies in Uganda do not even make any profit at all. They are operating on advance payments from their clients or potential clients and they need support to grow.”

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