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Why hotels need tourism to flourish
A hotel assistant helps a guest around his room. It is important that domestic tourism is boasted to improve hotel occupancy across the country. PHOTO BY EDGAR R. BATTE.
What you need to know:
The Uganda Hotel Owners Association is the umbrella organisation that brings together all hotels in the country. Jean Byamugisha is its executive director. Edgar R. Batte spoke to her about the general overview of the hotel industry focusing on classification of hotels and pricing, opportunities, challenges and much more.
Since we are ending the year how would you rate the performance of the hotel industry in 2015?
We have had some good progress in the sector, key among them, the recent grading and classification of hotels in Kampala. However, Uganda Tourism Board, which is mandated to grade and classify, is laying ground to extend the exercise to other parts of the country.
But why would it take you 29 years to grade and classify hotels?
I agree it has been overdue but at least we are now on track. We have graded the ones in Kampala and we are now looking at those outside Kampala. This is not an easy process but we have started.
Will the classification have any positive impact?
Absolutely yes. The grading will not only guide investors but is likely to improve service standards as well as creating a sense of value for money.
What have been some of the challenges within the year?
Manpower remains a big challenge in the sector but beyond this, is the challenge of low career growth in terms of training. However, we have seen some progress through organising refresher courses where possible even though we still have a long way to go.
However, we still have the challenge of perennial poor marketing, which, in part, could have impacted local hotel occupancy. We need to invest in marketing as well as promoting domestic tourism.
But how possible is it to promote local occupancy given the prohibitive hotel pricing?
Pricing is still a challenge but there are a lot of factors that the public needs to put into consideration. Take for instance overhead costs, among which include utility bills, taxes and wages. These are key factors that determine pricing.
Haven’t these challenges prevented new opportunities?
Not really. On the contrary I would say the industry has been presented with some new opportunities given the apparent growth in the tourism and accommodation sectors. We have seen new investment in lodging facilitates, especially in national parks and tourist centres.
To take you back a little, does the grading look out for anything in particular?
We consider a number of things to place a hotel in any particular class. But in this case we benchmark our classes on 16 elements, among them location, facilities, capacity and size of rooms.
Do you have any statistics in regard to the most visited hotels in Uganda?
Not anything tangible. But Kampala hotels have had some good traffic this year. This has been mainly a result of the increasing number of conferences and business meetings that have been hosted in Kampala.
At least Kampala hotels operate at a 60 per cent occupancy rate unlike upcountry ones that have low traffic.
But beyond the hotels, lodges, especially those in game parks and tourist centres have been doing well and fold the year on a good note given that this is usually a peak season for such places.
What key features do tourists look out for in terms of accommodation?
Cleanliness and meals are some of the key factors that tourists look out for. But beyond this, customers look out for good service and customer care.
Ambiance, price point and perhaps other activities around the hotel are some of the key factors that will play into client’s minds.
What should the public look out for next year?
There are plenty of programmes, especially for our members. Next year we want to see to it that we invest in the hotel sector human resources.
We want to provide exchange programme for staff across the industry such as mentorship programmes, rewarding talent, especially women, who make up the bulk of the workers in the industry.
