The only way for regional tourism is up

I returned from the wild to the terrible news of the terrorist attacks that rocked parts of Paris in France. The attacks triggered an outpouring of emotions with Facebook making changes that allowed people to add a French flag filter on their profile pictures as a show of solidarity. This got some people irked with questions as to why the same attention is never paid when disaster happen elsewhere. The situation in Burundi kept coming up as a conflict that has largely been ignored by people hell bent on walking the tight rope between being politically correct and pretending not to be aware of what is happening down there. While visiting various tourist sites in Uganda during the Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo, it was obvious that Burundi was being well represented due to the volatile political situation the country faces. There was a Burundian journalist among us but the same could not be said about tour operators. Uganda Tourism Board hosted tour operators from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Dubai, Italy, USA and so many other places. Even at the expo held at the Kampala Serena, you could not fail to see that Burundi was not represented. That said, tourism in the region is undergoing some interesting changes. Kenya the self proclaimed safari capital of the region suffered a major setback when terrorists scared away most of their tourists. However during those tough moments, it was revealed that the country had made about $66m from Ugandan tourists alone. This forced Kenya to put more emphasis on regional and domestic tourism which is rarely affected by major seasons or travel alerts issued by western embassies. East Africa has a population of close to 140 million people but with low figures for domestic and regional tourism. According to the good folks at the East African Tourism Platform (EATP), this should not be seen as a problem but an opportunity. When the passionate Carmen Nibigira, EATP’s Regional Coordinator starts talking about the benefits of focusing on regional tourism you do not want her to stop. By the time she is into her third sentence it is obvious that the potential for regional tourism is huge if we fix just a few things here and there. She quickly points to the impact of the single tourist visa and the use of national IDs to cross some borders in the community. Another issue that Carmen and her colleagues seem so zealous about is the aviation connectivity. Here she quickly points to the increasing destinations and low fares by Rwandair in the region as a move in the right direction. I guess we all can’t wait for the open skies agreements to be implemented. Although East Africa is generally known for its game safaris and mountain gorillas, this region has so much more to offer if you look closely. Also each EAC member state has got some unique offerings that you may not find in another. But the starting point is if we the East Africans make it a habit to visit and tell our stories to the rest of the world. The days when people waited to get to a country with snow before taking a photo worth sharing are long gone. After all, there is snow at the top of Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mt Kenya in Kenya as well as Mt Rwenzori in Uganda if you are looking for more interesting pictures to share. Next week the Pope will be our guest in Kenya and Uganda and many Catholics from neighbouring countries will travel to catch a glimpse of the Pontiff. Religious tourism is another promising source of revenue for the region. The Uganda Martyrs Shrine in Namugongo and Kibeho in Rwanda are some of the places that East Africans visit regularly. East Africans need to be informed about the different places they can visit and activities they can engage in when they visit other East African countries. Countries in the community need to increasingly ease access to travel within the region. Regional airlines ought to move within the region as a single airspace to bring down the cost of air travel. I wish more investment could go into the water transport business since we have big lakes like Victoria, Kivu and Tanganyika that have great tourism potential. Ultimately each one of us should make an effort to visit at least three East African countries before their time is up. The future is only bright if we do our bit and shine the light at it.

Opinions

The only way for regional tourism is up