Tourism app is a step in the right direction
Tourists enjoy a boat cruise at Murchison Falls National Park. Experts say the lack of data put several Uganda tour operators and businesses in a quandary after the Covid-19 pandemic. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Uganda is a gem and figures have shown us that tourism could earn us the dollars we need, in billions.
- The numbers have been growing since the Covid-19 disruptions and could surpass the 2019 precovid-19 figures.
The news that Uganda has developed a mobile application that is aimed at growing Uganda’s tourism sector through increased visibility and making it a one-stop centre for information regarding tourism, destinations, attractions, events, accommodation and service providers, is a welcome move.
As the country aims at developing tourism as one of the high earners, making it one of the four pillars of the economy; others being manufacturing, agro-processing, ICT and science, we must embrace technology in the promotion of tourism and make Uganda shine out there.
Many of the tourists who come here will have heard the information from friends, colleagues or tour guides. The government has always blamed the media for bringing out the negative news and discouraging tourists.
News about terrorist attacks, bad food in hotels, disease outbreaks, fire outbreaks, landslides, rebels has often caused cancellations of travel bookings.
However, even when effort is made to solve the problem, such as fighting terrorism, there has been no one-stop centre to offer information and reassure tourists that Uganda is safe. Neither do tourists get the information that security has been beefed up, or that disasters or disease outbreaks are in isolated places and do not affect the tourism industry in a significant way.
Therefore, an app that will have such information will help tourists when they are making their decisions.
The Uganda Tourism Board should ensure timely updates, counter negative news, promote the destinations and showcase Uganda’s unique features and use it to give all the information and answer all the questions.
By the time the tourists are here or are making their decisions to visit, they should have all the information they would need on this app.
The app should help tourists locate the various attractions in Uganda and also easily know the safe and secure places in case of a crisis such as a nearby police station or an alternative route in case of flooding, broken bridges or blocked roads.
Uganda is a gem and figures have shown us that tourism could earn us the dollars we need, in billions. The numbers have been growing since the Covid-19 disruptions and could surpass the 2019 precovid-19 figures.
We must take advantage of this and use technology to our advantage. Ugandans should also use the app to sell their products so that they are also beneficiaries of the sector. Kudos to this innovation.
