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Embassies courted to sell Destination Uganda
Elephants along the Kazinga Channel. PHOTO/MARVIN MILES MUGERWA.
What you need to know:
- Embassies play a vital role, not only in attracting tourists but also investors as they are strategically positioned key markets.
- So far, according to ambassador. Richard Kabonero, 10 missions and two consulates are already on board
To sell Destination Uganda, one might need to engage all five senses – smell, touch, taste, feel and hear.
This, Steven Asiimwe executive director of the Private Sector Foundation, says to sell Murchison Falls National Park, for example, a tour company or guide must know everything about the destination to convince someone to visit it. It should be more than Google can offer.
It is for this reason that the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) recently organised a four-day Familiarisation Trip (FamTrip) for Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mofa) staff – through the Department of International Economic Cooperation - to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
The collaboration, the first of its kind between the two entities aims at equipping Mofa staff with the expertise to sell Uganda at the country’s various embassies and consulates abroad.
During the trip, the 15-man Mofa delegation, led by Connie Nuwagaba went through Masaka, making stopovers at Lukaya Market where some tasted the roast food delicacies the market has to offer for the first time. At the Equator line in Kayabwe town in Mpigi District, the ‘tourists’ were treated to experiments to show the differences between the Southern and Northern hemispheres.
They asked the guide, who had told them one is lighter by three kilogrammes if they stand on the Equator line, to provide a weighing scale to prove his narrative.
The team then proceeded to Kasese through Mbarara–Bushenyi.
On the second day, the team enjoyed an early morning game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park, where they spotted kobs, water bucks, rhinos, and hippos. The highlight of the four-hour drive was the pride of lions.
The salt mining experience at Lake Bunyampaka, in the Kasenyi Area of the national park was also a major learning experience for the team group.
“We would never have known what these gentlemen go through for us to have tasty food at home,” exclaimed Nuwagaba, a counselor in the Department of International Economic Cooperation, after the salt miner took them through the basic drills of salt mining. In the distance, pink flamingos basked under the sunshine.
An afternoon boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel was characterised by banter between the group and the ranger guides led by Charles Turinawe.
“The channel,” Turinawe, who has spent almost 30 years with the Uganda Wildlife Authority said, “is a wide, 32-kilometre-long natural channel that links Lakes Edward and George and is a key feature of Queen Elizabeth National Park and a popular area for wildlife tourism.”
“The channel is home to a wide range of animals and birds, including one of the world’s largest concentrations of hippos (around 2,000) and countless Nile crocodiles,” the 56-year-old added.
The new Equator monument.
He took the team through the 10 national parks, starting with the largest – Murchison Falls – to the smallest - Mgahinga Gorilla which covers a total surface area of about 34 square kilometers, occasionally asking the group whether they had understood.
The trip, Nuwagaba said, had offered the team an understanding of Uganda’s natural beauty which should be marketed by different embassies and foreign missions, a call re-echoed by UTB Chief Executive Officer Lilly Ajarova.
“We work together with our embassies to ensure our presence in their markets. It is crucial that the embassy officials are equipped with the latest information about Uganda’s tourism offerings,” she said during a recent four-day joint retreat organised by Mofa.
“In the past, embassies have successfully brought potential investors to assess our country’s offerings. We call on them to support our tourism efforts, particularly in branding and marketing, and with their continued support, we expect more positive results.”
But Nuwagaba appealed to UTB to help increase visibility at the foreign missions by providing branded materials, brochures, and documentaries that will help them ably sell the country especially as a destination for MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions).
According to Daniel Irunga, more such engagements between UTB and Mofa will be held.
“This is a continuation of an earlier initiative to have UTB and Mofa implement a joint international marketing strategy, support crisis communications and collaborate with diaspora associations to promote investment in Uganda,” Irunga, the Explore Uganda brand manager said.
Murchison Falls National Park is expected to be the destination of the next excursion.
Department of International Economic Cooperation mandate:
• Strengthening and promoting international economic initiatives which are supportive of Uganda’s national interest.
• Initiating technical policy recommendations on economic/commercial diplomacy.
• Coordinating aspects of Missions related to economic/commercial diplomacy.
• Promoting partnerships and networks with stakeholders dealing with matters of economic/commercial diplomacy.
• Coordinating global economic negotiations in taking into account Uganda’s national.
• Promoting rules-based multilateral economic systems.
• Lobby for international support is needed to complement Government efforts in the implementation of agreed global economic outcomes.
• Lobby positions for placement of Uganda or Ugandans in international economic organisations.
