OPPORTUNITY STUDY
INCLUSIVE TOURISM PROGRAMME
UGANDA INCLUSIVE TOURISM
October 2011
Prepared by
Dr. Frederic Thomas
Mrs. Grace Barya
Mr. Celestine Katongole
Table of contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACRONYMS
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF FIGURES
2
4
6
8
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1.
1.2.
1.3.
2.
COUNTRY PROFILE
ITC IN UGANDA
INCLUSIVE TOURISM
14
15
16
16
17
KEY TOURISTIC RESOURCES AND ATTRACTIONS
TOURISM STATISTICS
TOURISM ECONOMICS IN UGANDA
TOURISM MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING
RECENT AND ON-GOING TOURISM INITIATIVES
EU - UGANDA SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
UNDP (2011-2014) / UNCTAD (2012-2015)
THE USAID/STAR PROJECT
THE WORLD BANK PAMSU PROJECT
COMMUNITY PROJECTS OR ASSOCIATIONS
18
18
19
23
26
29
29
29
30
30
30
SITUATION ANALYSIS
4.1.
4.1.1.
4.1.2.
4.2.
4.2.1.
4.2.2.
4.3.
4.4.
4.4.1.
4.4.2.
5.
10
12
13
TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN UGANDA
3.1.
3.2.
3.3.
3.4.
3.5.
3.5.1.
3.5.2.
3.5.3.
3.5.4.
3.5.5.
4.
10
PURPOSE AND STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY
2.1. TIMEFRAME AND OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
2.2. METHODOLOGY AND LIMITATIONS
2.2.1. METHODOLOGY
2.2.2. LIMITATIONS
3.
9
TOURISM COMPETITIVENESS
COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT ANALYSIS FOR THE TOURISM SECTOR IN UGANDA
SWOT ANALYSIS FOR THE CRAFT SECTOR IN UGANDA
TOURISM DEVELOPMENT PLAN
PERCEPTION AND SATISFACTION REGARDING UGANDA’S TOURISTIC ATTRACTIONS AND SERVICES
TOUR OPERATORS’ PERCEPTION OF TOURIST RESOURCES AND ATTRACTIONS
VISITOR SATISFACTION WITH UGANDA’S TOURISTIC ATTRACTIONS AND SERVICES
36
37
37
38
40
41
43
45
47
47
49
UGANDA TOURISM VALUE CHAIN
5.1.
5.1.1.
5.1.2.
5.1.3.
5.2.
5.3.
5.4.
THE VISITORS
VISITOR DEMOGRAPHICS
MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION AND NUMBER OF COUNTRIES VISITED
TRAVEL PARTY
ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD
EXCURSIONS AND GUIDES
TRANSPORTATION
51
52
52
55
56
58
60
60
2
5.5.
CRAFTS, VISUAL ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
63
6.
DEFINITION OF THE POOR
64
7.
AGGREGATED TOURISM EXPENDITURES AND PRO-POOR INCOME
66
7.1. TOTAL AND LOCAL ECONOMIC IMPACT OF TOURISM ON THE UGANDAN ECONOMY
7.2. PRO-POOR IMPACT OF TOURISM ON UGANDA ECONOMY
7.2.1. PRO-POOR IMPACT IN THE ACCOMMODATION SECTOR
7.2.2. PRO-POOR IMPACT IN THE SOUVENIR SECTOR
7.2.3. PRO-POOR IMPACT OF TOURISM IN UGANDA
8.
8.1.
8.2.
8.3.
8.4.
68
71
73
74
75
OPPORTUNITIES FOR PRO-POOR INTERVENTIONS
SUSTAINABLE TOURISM SECTOR DEVELOPMENT
SUSTAINABLE TOURISM-RELATED SECTORS DEVELOPMENT
HOLISTIC APPROACH WITHIN A SUSTAINABLE PARTNERSHIP FOR INTERVENTIONS
SUMMARY OF ITC INTERVENTIONS
76
77
81
88
88
CONCLUSION
90
ANNEXES
92
ANNEX 1: ADDITIONAL TABLES
92
ANNEX 2: VISITOR ARRIVALS BY COUNTRY OF USUAL RESIDENCE (2005 – 2009)
95
ANNEX 3: OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES AND INTERVENTIONS OBJECTIVE FOR THE TOURISM SECTOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN (2010-2014)
96
ANNEX 4: AREAS IN WHICH THE OPPORTUNITY STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN
100
ANNEX 5 – UGANDA: CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS SITES
102
ANNEX 6 – LIST OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED IN SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT
105
ANNEX 7 – NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF NATIONAL ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED IN SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
DEVELOPMENT
110
ANNEX 8 – LIST OF CONTACTS
112
ANNEX 9 – DETAILED SWOT ANALYSIS
113
3
ACRONYMS
ACP
Agricultural Commodities Programme
AGOA
American Growth Opportunities Act
AUTO
Association of Uganda Tour Operators
CBOs
Community Based Organisations
COBATI
The Community Based Tourism Initiative
CPAE
Consumption Per Adult Equivalent
DfID
UK Department for International Development
EBA
Everything But Arms
EPII
Employee ProPoor Income Impact
FIT
Free Independent Travellers
GIT
Group Inclusive Tour
GTZ/KFW
Gesellschaft
für
Technische
Zusammenarbeit/Kreditanstalt
Für
Wiederaufbau
ICBTs
Ugandan Women Informal Cross Border Traders
IFAD
International Fund for Agricultural Development
IT
Inclusive Tourism
ITC
International Trade Centre
KAFRED
Kibale Association for Rural and Environmental Development
LEI
Local Economic Impact
MICE
Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events
MTTI
Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry
MTW
Ministry of Transport and Works
MWTA
Ministry of Wildlife, Tourism and Antiquities
NAADS
National Agricultural Advisory Services
NACAU
National Arts and Crafts Association of Uganda
NAWOU
National Association for Women Organisations in Uganda
NAWOU
National Organisation of Women Associations in Uganda
NDP
National Development Plan
NGOs
Non Governmental Organisations
NTF II
Netherlands Trust Fund
PACT II
Programme for Building African Capacity for Trade
PSFU
Private Sector Foundation of Uganda
ROI
Return on Investment
RVR
Rift Valley Railways
4
TA
Technical assistance
TEI
Total Economic Impact
TLB
Uganda Transport Licensing Board
TO
Tour operators
TSIs
Trade Support Institutions
UCOTA
Uganda Community Tourism Association
UDTA
Uganda Development Theatre Association
UEPB
Uganda Export Promotion Board
UHOA
Uganda Hotel Owners Association
UMA
Uganda Manufacturers Association
UN
United Nations
UNDP
United Nations Development Programme
UNCTAD
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
USAID
United States Agency for International Development
USSIA
Uganda Small Scale Industries Association
UTB
Uganda Tourism Board
UTODA
Uganda Taxi Drivers Association
UWA
Uganda Wildlife Authority
UWEAL
Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association
WTO
World Trade Organisation
WTTC
World Travel and Tourism Council
5
List of tables
Table 1: Size of tourism supply chain and sample - Uganda 2011 .............................................. 16
Table 2: Origin of visitors to Uganda ....................................................................................................... 19
Table 3: Basic tourism indicators ............................................................................................................. 20
Table 4: Arrivals and departures from main border checkpoints (2009) ................................ 21
Table 5: International tourist arrivals to National Parks - Uganda (2009) .............................. 22
Table 6: Visitors to national parks (2009) ............................................................................................ 23
Table 7: Share of primary growth sectors in GDP and growth performance .......................... 24
Table 8: Annual turnover by industry (millions shillings), 2008-2009 ..................................... 25
Table 9: Employment, median earnings and average weekly hours of work .......................... 25
Table 10: Strategic actions for improving the quality of public physical infrastructure .... 28
Table 11: Tourist Arrivals, receipts and purpose of visit in East Africa (2008) ..................... 38
Table 12: Ease of doing business rank (out of 183 economies) ................................................... 39
Table 13: WTTC tourism competitiveness index 2011 .................................................................... 39
Table 16: Expenditure framework under the NDP 2010-2014 .................................................... 46
Table 17: Market size of different regions for Uganda based TOs ............................................... 47
Table 18: Main reasons for not selling Uganda provinces .............................................................. 47
Table 19: Difficulty to sell the main attractive factors by region ................................................. 49
Table 20: Level of satisfaction for touristic attractions and services ......................................... 50
Table 21: Favourite activities in Uganda ............................................................................................... 50
Table 22: Concept and structure of the tourism value chain ......................................................... 52
Table 23: Nationality and origin of respondents ................................................................................ 52
Table 24: Main purpose for visiting Uganda by region of origin .................................................. 53
Table 25: Specific purposes of visit .......................................................................................................... 53
Table 26: Age by country of origin ........................................................................................................... 54
Table 27: Age bracket by country of origin ........................................................................................... 54
Table 28: entry and exit points of interviewees ................................................................................. 55
Table 29: Travel party, frequency of visit and ALOS ......................................................................... 56
Table 30: Country of origin and travel party........................................................................................ 56
Table 31: Travel party and package tour ............................................................................................... 57
Table 32: Travel party by purpose of visit ............................................................................................ 57
6
Table 33: Distribution of hotels and restaurants by region in Uganda ...................................... 58
Table 34: Employment in hotels and restaurants .............................................................................. 59
Table 35: Accommodation capacity for selected hotels in Uganda, occupancy rates and
guest nights in 2003/2005/2008 ................................................................................................... 59
Table 36: Contribution of hotels and restaurants subsector to Uganda’s GDP ....................... 60
Table 37: Poverty statistics in the UNHS 2005/06 ............................................................................ 65
Table 38: Comparison of poverty estimates by region .................................................................... 66
Table 39: In-country spending per person per day and per stay by purpose of visit .......... 68
Table 40: Distribution of expenditures by supply chain and purpose of visit ........................ 69
Table 41: Breakdown of operating costs for the accommodation and restaurant sector .. 70
Table 42: Percentage of both cost of various food items in total food products and locally
sourced products (accommodation facilities)............................................................................ 70
Table 43 : Handicraft and imported purchases level ........................................................................ 71
Table 44: Breakdown of interviewed workers and average monthly salary .......................... 73
Table 45: Poverty profile and salary distribution in the accommodation sector .................. 74
Table 46: Pro-poor Impact by supply chain ......................................................................................... 75
Table 47: Pre-identified interventions for sustainable tourism sector development .......... 79
Table 48: Average amount of underspending by purpose of visit ............................................... 83
Table 49: Opportunities in the crafts sector ......................................................................................... 83
Table 50: Percentage of locally purchased products and volume of imports ......................... 84
Table 51: Pre-identified interventions for the sustainable development of tourism-related
sectors ........................................................................................................................................................ 85
Table 52: ITC logical framework ............................................................................................................... 89
Table 53: Main attracting factors by region.......................................................................................... 92
Table 54: Weaknesses and strengths of each Ugandan region ..................................................... 92
Table 55: Categories of hotels and restaurants where international tourists stay ............... 93
Table 56: Suggestions from tour operators to encourage tourism benefits for local
communities ............................................................................................................................................ 93
Table 57: Main reasons and specific purposes to visit Uganda..................................................... 93
Table 58: Mean age by category ................................................................................................................ 94
Table 59: Average expenditure for accommodation per night by country of residence .... 94
7
List of figures
Figure 1: Uganda Poverty rates (2005) .................................................................................................. 11
Figure 2: Areas of expertise in inclusive tourism projects ............................................................. 14
Figure 3: Monthly visitor arrivals to Uganda (2005-2009) ............................................................ 21
Figure 4: Tourist arrivals to Uganda and visitors to national parks (2005-2009) ................ 23
Figure 5: Diagram of the Tourism Value Chain/visitor journey ................................................... 24
Figure 6: Problem tree of main issues related to tourism in Uganda ......................................... 37
Figure 7: SWOT Analysis of Tourism in Uganda ................................................................................. 42
Figure 8: Specific SWOT Analysis for the crafts sector..................................................................... 45
Figure 9: Map of Uganda showing exit points ...................................................................................... 55
Figure 10: Number and types of businesses in the accommodation sector ............................. 58
Figure 11: Impact concept for tourism ................................................................................................... 67
Figure 12: Simplified Tourism Value Chain .......................................................................................... 67
Figure 13: Economic impact of tourism by supply chain ................................................................ 68
Figure 14: Conway's approach for calculating the poverty profile of tourism staff ............. 72
Figure 15: Traditional barriers to PPT ................................................................................................... 76
Figure 16: Priorities for an inclusive tourism development in Uganda..................................... 78
Figure 17: Priorities for a sustainable tourism-related sector development .......................... 81
Figure 18: Different steps of the production process ....................................................................... 82
Figure 19: Simplified value chain steps for the crafts sector ......................................................... 82
Figure 20: UN agencies partnership ........................................................................................................ 88
Figure 21: Survey itinerary ...................................................................................................................... 100
8
Executive summary
This paper presents the findings of an opportunity study which focused on the possible
linkages between (i) agriculture, and (ii) creative industries (crafts/visual
arts/dance/music) and the tourism industry in Uganda. The survey was undertaken
between August and October 2011 by an international inclusive tourism expert, in
tandem with two national experts, and in straight collaboration with the Ministry of
Tourism, wildlife and heritage, the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) and the Uganda Export
Promotion Board (UEPB). Thanks to the UNDP’s funding, it was possible to hire 10
additional national consultants to conduct a visitor survey at all exit points, thereby
providing the team with a clear understanding of both the Tourism Value Chain in Uganda
and the existing opportunities for vulnerable populations to benefit more from a rapid
increase in international arrivals.
While tourism development offers significant potential for increased incomes in Uganda,
it has also been contributing to a rise in conflicts between the communities adjacent to
national parks and the local authorities. The human-wildlife conflict is becoming a serious
threat to the survival of many endangered species in Uganda. In areas where either these
human-wildlife conflicts exist or the population suffers from resilient poverty, inclusive
tourism development now appears as a key factor to provide new or alternative sources
of livelihood.
The results of the opportunity study and visitor survey show several challenges to the
development of an inclusive tourism in Uganda. The management of tourism, and more
particularly the attractiveness of the destination, was highlighted as the main challenge
by visitors and the private sector. Road quality and access was the main area of concern
on the supply and demand sides. The absence of incentives to investment, especially
regarding middle range businesses, was also considered as detrimental to a rapid
expansion of the tourism sector through a diversification and an improvement of its
products and services. Furthermore, Uganda suffers from weak in-country and external
communication strategies towards both tourists and investors. However, the low
occupancy rate for most of the accommodation providers (31%) cannot solely be
explained by an inappropriate marketing strategy. It is mostly due to an incorrect
understanding of the tourism market by most private investors. It appears also that lowtourism skilled managers or owners operate a majority of tourism businesses - especially
in the middle range and low-end segments. Uganda suffers from a very heterogeneous
quality of services and products, in the tourism sector as well as in other sectors,
including creative industries and agriculture.
This opportunity study highlights the lack of capacities of both the crafts and agricultural
sectors in profiting from the tourism expansion and in being able to fulfil the needs of the
tourism sector. Added to this weakness, with few very notable exceptions, the private
sector’s lack of concern over making tourism a tool for development was noted.
It is therefore recommended that local producers consistently supply tourism businesses
with competitive products, and that tourism businesses engage themselves in supporting
9
local producers with a minimum rate of local purchases. To address these issues (in both
areas of interventions), the following actions are recommended:
-
Design support and brand creation (craft) / increase-enhance production of
diversified/specialised products (agriculture)
Business development and other types of training
Market placement and sales opportunities
To conclude, the survey evidenced unexploited markets and products. As products,
processed food (jam, honey, juice) and crafts (wood carvings & sculptures, clothing,
jewellery, textiles, fashion accessories and scarves) were identified as most promising
backward linkages with a high level of economic opportunities (high demand, potential
import substitution). The project will not only contribute to poverty reduction but the
findings of the opportunity study could help the Ministry of Tourism define strategic
options to increase tourism in Uganda.
Acknowledgements:
ITC wishes to thank the staff of the Ministry of Tourism, the Ugandan Tourism Board and
the Ugandan Export Promotion Board for their extremely helpful support without which
this Opportunity Study exercise would not have been possible. It was very much
appreciated that UNDP Uganda funded under the “Support for Development of Inclusive
Markets in Tourism” project the undertaking of a visitor survey, providing a clear
understanding of the Tourism Value Chain in Uganda and the existing opportunities for
vulnerable populations to benefit from it as well as the funding of the validation
roundtable in November 2011 to disseminate the Opportunity Study findings and further
project development.
1. Introduction
1.1.Country profile
Uganda has a 765 km border with the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west, a 933
km border with Kenya, a 169 km border with Rwanda, a 435 km border with south Sudan
to the north and a 396 km border with Tanzania to the south. The country’s total area is
241,550.7 square kilometres, of which 41,743.2 sq. km are covered with open water and
swamps. Land area is 199,807.4 sq. km, of which 99,018.4 sq. km is cultivated land. In
total there are over 113 districts and Kampala has the highest population (over 1.6
million people). The central region has about 16 districts, the eastern region has 24
districts, the northern region has 21 districts and the western region has 19 districts.
The climate is tropical for most of the country, it is generally rainy with two dry seasons
(December to February, June to August), and it is semiarid in the northeast. Uganda has
substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, small deposits of
10
copper, gold, and other minerals, and recently discovered oil. Agriculture is the most
important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the work force.
The main threats are the draining of wetlands for agricultural use, deforestation,
overgrazing, soil erosion, water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria and widespread
poaching.
Uganda has made enormous progress in reducing poverty, slashing the countrywide
incidence from 56 % of the population in 1992 to 24.5 % in 2009. And, at 12 %, the
reduction of poverty in urban areas has been even more marked. Notwithstanding these
gains, however, poverty remains firmly entrenched in the country’s rural areas, home to
more than 85 % of Ugandans. About 40 % of all rural people – some 10 million men,
women and children – still live in abject poverty.
Figure 1: Uganda Poverty rates (2005)
Source: UBOS (2005)
11
Who are Uganda's rural poor people?
Uganda’s poorest people include millions of subsistence farmers living in remote,
scattered areas throughout the country. Remoteness makes people poor insofar as it
prevents them from benefiting from the country’s steady economic growth and dynamic
modernisation. Taking into consideration the increasing number of visitors to Uganda
every year and the geographically dispersed key tourism sites, pro-poor tourism
orientation in key areas can have a strong impact on poverty reduction in the country.
Where are Uganda's rural poor people?
The poorest regions are the north and northeast of the country, where outbreaks of civil
strife and cattle rustling have disrupted small farmers’ lives and agricultural production.
The northeast particularly is a fragile, dry and sub-humid region where the extreme
variability of rainfall and soil fertility means that farming presents a challenge.
Production falls short of minimum household needs, rendering the inhabitants
particularly vulnerable to food insecurity. For instance, the region experienced a dry spell
of over three years in the last four years. Even when rain falls, it only happens four
months scattered between February and July, with some in-between months which are
extremely dry. While other regions of the country have two rainfall seasons in a year, the
northern region has only one season which lasts about six months.
1.2.ITC in Uganda
The International Trade Centre (ITC) is the technical cooperation agency of the United
Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Taking into account its business
lines 1, ITC designs projects aimed at developing export strategies, increasing the
competitiveness of sectors and enterprises, producing and disseminating trade
intelligence, improving the capacity of trade support institutions as well as strengthening
business and trade policies.
In Uganda, ITC works with exporters, policy makers and trade support institutions (TSIs),
such as the Uganda Export Promotion Board (UEPB). Among the implemented projects in
Uganda, some do not directly target the country but rather the region. This is the case
with the Programme for Building African Capacity for Trade (PACT) II2 project, for which
the objective is to achieve diversified and expanded exports within and outside of Africa,
thereby contributing to sustainable economic and social development. Within this
broader context, the objective is to build the capacity of the COMESA Secretariat as well
as TSIs in the COMESA to use market analysis tools and methods to prioritize export
sectors and markets with due consideration to poverty reduction, women and
environment impact. Implementation was done in the following areas: learning about the
use of market analysis tools to assess export performance of products and selecting
1
Business and Trade Policy, Export Strategy, Strengthening Trade Support Institutions, Trade Intelligence and Exporter
Competitiveness
2
9 projects
12
markets COMESA regional Trade Flow Analysis3; providing an effective interface between
the COMESA REC Secretariat and the private sector in the region4; strengthening regional
trade support networks, including businesswomen’s networks5; strengthening regional
trade information networking in the leather sector; improving access to international
market information sources6; setting up an inter-regional web-based platform with
reference materials for regional trade development7; developing a sustainable supply
chain sourcing between COMESA producers and major international leather industries;
increase intra-regional trade flows; and diversifying the offer of products in the “Ethical
Fashion”8 market segment.
Under the Agricultural Commodities Programme (ACP)9, ITC assists stakeholders
to design, programme and coordinate multi-agency and multi-year development activities
to respond to their commercial market and socio-economic development objectives in
agricultural commodity sectors. ITC supports cotton associations and trade support
institutions to identify and evaluate specific markets, and equally builds capacity through
training and counselling of country counterparts to support African countries to
understand and apply quality requirements and address other supply impediments (e.g.
reduction in contamination, improved cotton consistency and delivery).
It is expected that the Netherlands Trust Fund (NTF II)10 project will build
sustainable exporter competitiveness in the coffee sector in Uganda. The project outcome
focuses on strengthening the effectiveness of umbrella institutions and farmer
organisations in the coffee sector in accessing the EU market.
Other projects carried out in Uganda have the following aims: to help women
derive greater economic benefit from their participation in export-oriented value
chains11; to create a Pan-African trainers and advisers network for African exporters and
their supporting IOs 12 ; to strengthen the international competitiveness of microenterprises from the developing world - through a form of global partnership13; to
enhance the capacity of Ugandan Women Informal Cross Border Traders (ICBTs) to
increase their exports to neighbouring countries by reducing and eliminating trade
facilitation impediments at points of entry and exit14.
1.3. Inclusive Tourism
ITC’s Inclusive Tourism (IT) programme is an innovative trade promotion approach
which aims to integrate local community producers into promising tourism industry
3
COMESA Market analysis and sector prioritization, (2009-2011)
COMESA Networks of national and regional TSIs, (2009-2011)
5
COMESA Regional private sector apex bodies for public-private dialogue, (2009-2012)
6
COMESA Regional trade information networks, (2009-2011)
7
Pan Africa e-based repository of trade tools and services, (2010-2011)
8
COMESA Leather sector regional export development, (2009-2011)
9
3 projects: Coordination Team, (2007-2011); Cotton sector strategy development, (2008-2012); Cotton sector
strategy implementation, (2008-2011)
10
2 projects: NTF II – Management, (2009-2011) and NTF II – Uganda, (2010-2013)
11
Women and trade - Empowering women in the coffee sector, (2010-2011)
12
Empowering the African Private Sector network to strengthen the international competitiveness of small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), (2011)
13
Poor Communities and Trade Program, (2010-2011)
14
Trade facilitation - Facilitating women informal cross border trade in Uganda, (2010-2011)
4
13
value chains, to harness their entrepreneurial capacities and to generate income and
employment for the poor. Inclusive Tourism is understood as a sustainable approach to
tourism development. By adopting a local approach to economic development, it
identifies products and services supplied by poor communities that have the potential to
be integrated into the tourism value chain and thus generate income for the poor.
Inclusive Tourism creates and strengthens linkages between local producers
(particularly women) and the tourism markets by integrating local producers into
existing tourism value chains and by reconfiguring these value chains to ensure more
equitable redistribution of revenue. Inclusive Tourism works with both the producers
and the tourism industry (tour operators, hotels, tourism boards etc.) to improve supply
capacity on the one hand, and to create awareness for win-win situations on the other
hand. The linkages created enable the poor rural communities to export their products,
first on local national markets through the channel of tourism, and then on international
markets, while creating value-addition along the value chain. Inclusive Tourism focuses
on poverty impacts as well as on the promotion of gender equality/empowerment of
women, thereby complementing the more environmental focus of much Corporate Social
Responsibility and Sustainable Tourism work. To achieve these impacts, ITC focuses on
market-oriented business issues.
Figure 2: Areas of expertise in inclusive tourism projects
Tourism
Marketing
Specific
Service
Provision
Environmental
Management
Enhancing
local
communities
development
Artisanal
Product and
Artistic
Services
Development
Tourism
Hospitality
Management
Linking
Agriculture to
Tourism
2. Purpose and structure of the study
The aim of this Opportunity Study was originally to identify suitable project interventions
through which ITC’s technical expertise could make a pro-poor change within a project
timeframe of three to five years. The involvement of two other UN agencies (UNDP and
UNCTAD), both in favour of a sustainable development of the tourism sector in Uganda,
has encouraged ITC to broaden the scope of the opportunity study which initially only
14
focused on enabling artisans that work as micro producers along with Ugandan artists to
reach tourists.
The study is divided into three distinct phases:

Phase 1: Diagnosis of current situation and context: This phase includes tools
to map the tourism economy of the selected destination, and the participation of
the poor within it. The purpose is to understand financial flows and how the
tourism sector currently works.

Phase 2: Project opportunities, prioritisation and feasibility: This phase
includes a systematic approach to develop a ‘long list’ of project options. It then
guides to move towards a ‘short list’ of high priority interventions for poverty
reduction.

Phase 3: Project planning: This phase is used to package proposed interventions
into a project document for future interventions.
2.1.Timeframe and objectives of study
The project is based on the request of the Government of Uganda to develop an approach
to tourism that is able to strengthen the capacities of potentially competitive microenterprises that provide work and income generating opportunities for some of the most
marginalised communities of the country. The request is based on the acknowledgment
that certain indirect effects of tourism (purchase of products and souvenirs by tourists,
purchase of supplies, general services and so on) can be disproportionately more propoor if compared with direct employment generated by tourism itself.
Based on stakeholders’ feedback, ITC started to develop a project aimed at enabling
artisans that work as micro producers along with Ugandan artists to reach tourists by
selling four kinds of products:




Ethical fashion products, i.e. accessories (and maybe basic garments) that are
designed and conceived by international and local designers and are sold to
tourists in hotels and top resorts;
The market of lifestyle products (homeware and high street fashion), i.e. products
with a design component but cheaper and for larger distribution, sold not only in
hotels and resorts but also in local shopping centres and tourist hubs;
Visual arts, to be sold in hotels, resorts and galleries;
Music to be performed at tourist locations and CDs to be sold to tourists.
In order to avoid duplication of works, and therefore to benefit all stakeholders involved
in a sustainable development of the tourism sector in Uganda, it was decided to extend
this opportunity study to a full value chain analysis of the tourism sector. With additional
financial support from the UNDP in Uganda, the number of interviews conducted among
15
international tourists and tourism stakeholders was extended to be more statistically
representative of the sector and to offer a better understanding of where interventions
would be most efficient.
2.2.Methodology and limitations
2.2.1. Methodology
A team of three consultants (national and international) worked under the overall
supervision of the ITC/ Sector Competitiveness Trade Promotion Adviser and with the
support of the Uganda Export Promotion Board and the Uganda Tourism Board.
Throughout the research, the team consulted widely with stakeholders in several tourist
destinations (see itinerary – Annex 4). Discussions were held with government
departments, namely: The Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), The Uganda Wildlife Authority
(UWA) and the Uganda Export Promotion Board (UEPB).
A first stakeholders workshop was organised in Kampala to present both the opportunity
study objectives and itinerary to tourism professionals and government officials. Heads of
the Association of Uganda Tour Operators (AUTO), Uganda Hotels Owners Association
(UHOA), Department of Industrial Art and Design of Makerere University, Uganda
Tourism Board and National Crafts and Arts Association of Uganda (NACAU), the Uganda
Community Tourism Association (UCOTA) and the representatives of the USAID/STAR
project attended this meeting.
The team also met with local associations and communities such as the Boomu women’s
group, the Kyaninga community, the Albert Nile Conservation and Tourism Association,
the Mubako local women Craft Association, the Nyabwina women groups, The Kibale
Association for Rural and Environmental Development (KAFRED), the Njara Muslim
women group, the Kikongoro women community tourism group, the Katwe community,
the Buhoma community rest camp, the Bunyoni community, the exposure Africa project,
etc. Furthermore, face-to-face interviews were held with representatives of tourism
businesses such as hotels, safari lodges, resorts, tour operators, handicraft vendors,
wholesalers and restaurant managers.
Table 1: Size of tourism supply chain and sample - Uganda 2011
Categories
Accommodation
Restaurants
Food producers
Souvenir shops & wholesalers
Tour operators
Staff
Community projects
NGOs
Tourists
Actual
Survey
28
21
5
29
15
117
11
3
335
In total, 28 hotel managers and owners from Kampala, Paraa and Packwach, Bunyaruguru
– amongst other regions - as well as 117 members of their staff were interviewed to
16
determine the pro-poor income in the accommodation/food sectors. These tourism
establishments ranged from safari lodges, hostels, and hotels to resorts, and accounted
for a total of 800 rooms. Apart from the 28 establishments mentioned above, 21
additional restaurant owners were interviewed to complement the data/information in
the food and drink sub-chain. These ranged from small food stalls to restaurants serving
over 100 meals per day.
A total of 15 tour operators specialized in Western tourists were interviewed to give
insight into the current functioning of tour operators (TOs) in Uganda, and to assess the
excursion sub-chain. In addition, some informal discussions with other TOs completed
these interviews.
Interviews and focus groups were held with 29 handicraft producers/sellers (basketry,
wooden products) and dance performers in all of the visited destinations. Within the
crafts sector, recommendations notably targeted innovation and processed food.
Over a period of 5 days, a total of 335 international tourists completed a survey aimed at
defining international tourist travel behaviour, as well as satisfaction and average daily
spending while visiting Uganda. The interviews took place at the main exit points of
Uganda (Entebbe, Busia, Mutukula, Katuna and Malaba), in order to cover all different
categories of tourists visiting the country. For a summary of the survey categories refer to
table 1.
2.2.2. Limitations
Although this study attempts to provide a comprehensive tourism situation analysis for
Uganda, it was not possible to travel to all the main tourist destinations within the
amount of time spent in Uganda. In addition, high-end businesses, especially in the
accommodation sector and tour operators, were not all very cooperative with the team.
The fact that high-end hotels are mostly foreign-owned made it difficult for the local
managers to accept sharing financial and other sensitive information.
Many operators (especially small and medium ones) did not have the relevant data on
income, operating costs, etc. and although cooperatives, they sometimes provided
conflicting information. The absence of sector regulation, leading to a high level of
informality, also impeded the data collection process.
The exit survey at the airport is representative of the international tourists visiting the
country at the period of the survey only. Strong variations exist within the year in Uganda
regarding visitor arrivals and their characteristics.
Moreover, tourism statistics are either not coherent or simply non-existent. The data
collection system concerning the size of the tourism sector (number of operators, number
of rooms, employment, etc.) is in process under the current leadership of UTB. It is
therefore difficult to accurately extrapolate the results from the Opportunity Study.
17
3. Tourism development in Uganda
Commercial tourism in Uganda began in the 1950s, though significant growth was only
registered between 1962 and 1971. During this period, the tourism industry experienced
a 34% annual growth rate (Ministry of Wildlife Tourism and Antiquities (MWTA), 1996)
with 1970 recording the highest earnings of Uganda shillings: 132.3 million (US$ 18
million). At that time, average per capita spending was US$ 2,306 and the industry was
Uganda’s third largest foreign exchange earner after coffee and cotton. However, due to
the political instability of 1971-1986, the industry declined by 13.8% annually. In 1980
only 1,000 tourists were received down from 85,000 in 1969. During this period, wildlife
conservation areas were heavily poached to the extent that some species of wildlife
became extinct and others came to near extinction. Hotels, infrastructures and most
facilities were destroyed as government neglect of the sector was at its peak.
Following attainment of political peace by the current National Resistance Movement
government in 1987, Uganda adopted a structural adjustment programme that revamped
the tourism industry. The Tourism Master Plan of 1993 had projected that tourism would
grow at an annual rate of 13%, but a 53% annual growth rate was registered by 1996.
Compared to 1980, when only US$ 0.125 million were earned, the 1995 earnings had
reached a level of US$ 90 million. Despite some setbacks over the last few years, resulting
from the political instability in the Great Lakes Region, tourism has remained one of the
fastest growing sectors of the economy with an annual growth rate of 21% over the years
1992 – 2000. In 2010 Uganda recorded a total of more than 946,000 tourists, spending
over US$662 million (Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2011).
3.1.Key touristic resources and attractions
For the government of Uganda, the current Ugandan tourist products are nature-based
and centred on distinct geographic areas. Several of these are linked to national parks,
wildlife reserves, forest reserves or specific attractions, and activities such as white water
rafting at the source of the Nile in Jinja. Other attractions include Eco-Tourism, Cultural
Heritage, Faith-Based Tourism, Community Development Tourism and Meetings,
Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE).
 Game viewing: Likely to be the main reason for visiting Uganda for a majority of
leisure tourists. Uganda comprises 10 national parks in which the big five mammals
of Africa can be found (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo) and several
natural reserves. A majority of the parks are in the western part of the country.
 Eco-tourism: The greatest unique attractions in the so-called area of « eco-tourism »
include: gorilla tracking, viewing chimpanzees, golden monkeys and Patas monkeys,
(nature) guided walks, community walks, butterfly viewing and bird watching.
Additionally, Uganda’s position as a plateau astride the equator has given it a niche
in the variety of bird life with over 1060 bird species.
 Cultural Heritage: Uganda is endowed with diverse heritage and cultural treasures
that attract both foreign and domestic visitors. The archaeological treasures which
18
open a window into the beginning of mankind, the monarchical leadership that
predated the early explorers, the living culture and the history manifested in Idi
Amin’s leadership, are all touristic products that Uganda can capitalize on (see
annex 5). However, Uganda’s tangible cultural heritage is vanishing fast.
 Faith-Based Tourism: In Uganda, the Namugongo Martyrs Shrine stands out as a site
of pilgrimage, as do the hills housing the important symbols of Catholic, Anglican,
Bahai, Pentecostal and Islamic faiths. The National Development Plan states that the
current policy and practice has however not integrated tourism in the development
and promotion of these sites.
 Community and Development Tourism: Thanks to the efforts of some individuals
and/or organisations, community-based tourism is slowly expanding in Uganda but
efforts from the private sector to include community based activities remain
limited. This is a growing source market that has not been specifically targeted
through policy and practice.
 Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE): It is estimated that the
growth of the urban hotel industry in Kampala, Entebbe and Jinja is largely
attributed to this segment. With 20% of visitors officially travelling to Uganda for
business purposes, the MICE market represents a growing source of income at each
level of the tourism value chain.
3.2.Tourism statistics
The total number of tourists entering the country has steadily increased from 468,000 in
2005 to 946,000 in 2010. But in 2009 there was a 5 % decline in the number of tourists from 844,000 in 2008 to 806,000. About 50 % of these visitors travelled to the country to
visit friends and relatives, while 21 % travelled to Uganda for business purposes and
about 16 % travelled to Uganda for leisure and holiday.
Table 2: Origin of visitors to Uganda
2008
2009
2010
Africa
624,352
631,258
677,774
Kenya
249,786
261,329
294,170
Rwanda
181,339
199,530
177,043
Tanzania
45,276
48,948
42,289
America
53,950
56,131
65,175
USA
42,418
37,971
45,856
Asia
33,532
29,656
41,200
India
16,236
12,946
16,747
106,020
79,710
112,870
51,812
35,716
39,171
Europe
UK
Germany
8,083
6,778
8,650
Middle East
7,995
7,698
13,695
Source: MTTI 2010, UBOS, 2011
19
A large number of tourists come by road (61 % of total arrivals in 2010), although the
growth in terms of arrivals by air appears to be picking up much faster (57 % growth
between 2007 and 2008).
Table 3: Basic tourism indicators
Source: Uganda Bureau of Statistics (2010)
As seen above, visitors from Africa represent the main source market with 78.2 % of total
arrivals. Uganda’s main overseas source market is Europe, which made up for 12 %
(113,000) of the tourist arrivals in 2010. From this source market, the UK accounted for
35 % (39,171) – see Annex 2. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Uganda
Bureau of Statistics, males represented 73 % of international arrivals to Uganda in 2009
(796,009 out of 1,092,970). There is low volume of tourists from key source markets in
Europe and North America. This is possibly due to inadequate marketing and weak
positioning of Uganda in these markets. However, there is a positive growth trend in the
volume of visitors from Europe, America and the Middle East. With better marketing, this
trend is likely to further increase.
20
Figure 3: Monthly visitor arrivals to Uganda (2005-2009)
Monthly visitor arrivals to Uganda (2005-2009)
120000
100000
80000
2005
60000
2006
40000
2007
20000
2008
2009
0
Uganda tourism has a growing peak season in July and August. Monthly arrivals by
nationality and purpose of visit would allow us to understand whether this growing peak
coincides with the growing number of “holiday” segments or not.
It has been observed that a sizeable number of overseas visitors to Uganda (38 %) pass
through Entebbe International Airport, and that in the five year period of 2005 -2009 it
has handled 247,000 tourists on average. Possibly a consequence of the international
financial crisis, there was a 24 % decline in the number of tourist arrivals through
Entebbe International Airport in 2009.
There are however more overseas visitors who leave the country by road than those who
enter by road (Table 4). The table below also indicates that these four main entry points
account for the majority of arrivals in the country.
Table 4: Arrivals and departures from main border checkpoints (2009)
Port of Entry
Ugandans
NonUgandans
Port of exit
Port of entry/exit
Entebbe
Mutukula
Malaba &
Busia
Entebbe
Mutukula
Malaba &
Busia
Resident
104,738
64,286
59,660
110,547
72,337
68,875
Non resident
18,530
5,373
3,858
15,005
4,005
3047
Total
123,268
69,659
63,518
125,552
76,342
71,922
Resident
34,982
6,563
17,940
37,872
5,427
15,879
Western Europe
65,916
2,773
2,783
64,548
4,276
4,400
Other Europe
2312
213
230
2116
349
313
North America
39,457
2,010
1860
40,398
2,500
3,283
COMESA
66,924
229,134
235,530
62,142
219,716
210,904
Other Africa
38,821
23,602
22,863
33,961
24,288
21,392
Other not stated
39,171
2,350
2940
36,821
3,117
4,206
Total
287,583
266,645
284,146
277,858
259,673
260,377
410,851
336,304
347,664
403,410
336,015
332,299
Grand Total
Source: UBOS (2010)
21
The figures in the table above show that overall visitors arriving through Entebbe
International Airport mainly come from distant destinations in Europe and America. Few
visitors arrive by air from Kenya, Rwanda or Tanzania. However, in the COMESA region
as a whole, air travellers have been increasing over the last five years. The key message in
these trends seems to be that the visitors who arrive at the airport are long haul tourists,
and the increase over the last five years has not been as big as that for the entire sector.
That is, about one third of visitors to Uganda arrive by air. It is noted that, overall, not all
people who entered Uganda as tourists in 2009 returned during the same period.
Table 5: International tourist arrivals to National Parks - Uganda (2009)
Circuits
Western & Southern Circuits
Fort Portal & Kasese
Kibale National Park and Bigodi
Queen Elizabeth National park
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Rwenzori Mountains National Park
Semliki Valley National Park
Lake Mburo National Park
Lake Bunyonyi
Eastern Uganda
Mount Elgon National Park
Northern
Murchison Falls National Park
Kidepo Valley National Park
Total
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
6,490
48,720
9,012
1,910
906
1,949
16,181
7,741
43,885
10,176
2,071
948
2,584
12,508
8,440
51,749
9,585
2,676
1,583
1,940
14,264
7,733
53,921
10,128
3,244
2,020
2,701
16,539
8,247
62,513
11,806
1,886
1,281
2,701
17,521
3,751
2,964
3,472
3,708
2,943
39,133
758
128,810
26,256
959
112,098
32,049
795
128,560
36,752
1,558
138,304
39,237
2,924
153,068
Source: UWA (2010)
From the table above, we can observe that not all international tourists in Uganda visit
the national parks. The two main visited parks are Queen Elizabeth National Park in the
western part of Uganda, which received more than 60,000 tourists in 2009, and the
Murchison Falls National Park, found in one of the poorest areas of the country, with
almost 40,000 visitors in 2009. Interestingly, the number of visitors to national parks
increased for the year 2009, when arrivals to Entebbe airport went the opposite.
22
Figure 4: Tourist arrivals to Uganda and visitors to national parks (2005-2009)
Tourist arrivals and visitors to National Parks ('000's)
1000
Non-resident Tourist arrivals
through Entebbe Airport
800
600
Visitors (Citizens and Foreigners) to
National Parks (000’s)
400
Total Non-resident Visitor Arrivals
in Uganda
200
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Source: UBOS (2010)
The majority of visitors to national parks are non-resident foreigners (40 %), followed by
students (28 %) and Ugandan Nationals (20 %). A survey among tour operators, made by
the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry (2008), showed that most of the tourists
they handled preferred to visit Queen Elizabeth Park, followed by Bwindi, Murchison falls,
Kibaale National park, Lake Mburo national park and Rwenzori National park, in that
precise order. Overall, the above six tourist areas attracted 71% of the tourists during the
2004-2007 period. Within the same survey, gorilla tracking and game views emerged as
the most preferred attractions of tour operator clients. The other preferred attractions
were chimpanzees, landscapes, mountain climbing and bird watching.
Table 6: Visitors to national parks (2009)
Source: UBOS (2010)
3.3.Tourism economics in Uganda
23
According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), hotels and restaurants contributed
4.1 % to the total GDP at current prices (revised to 4.3%) in 2009/10, representing 1,487
billion Shillings at current prices (US$ 571 million). The growth performance of the sector
(12.5 %) is the second behind the post and telecommunications sector (39.6 %)
Table 7: Share of primary growth sectors in GDP and growth performance
Source: National Development Plan (NDP, 2010-2015)
Tourist expenditures were estimated at US$ 564 million for the year 2009, surprisingly
less than the amount spent in hotels and restaurants indicated below in table 8. Knowing
that hotel and restaurant categories usually represent 40% to 50% of visitors’
expenditures, the total tourism-related spending in Uganda could therefore be at least
twice more than officially recorded. Basically, the journey of a tourist does not solely boil
down to accommodation and catering. Other items, such as excursions and souvenirs, to
cite a few, must be taken into account in the balance of payments.
Figure 5: Diagram of the Tourism Value Chain/visitor journey
Source: Peter Lanes
With an annual turnover of 137,302 million Shillings (US$ 52.8 million) for the hotel
sector in 2009, the table below confounds the understanding of tourism economics in
Uganda. First, it is far below the data announced in other tables of the “2010 Statistical
Report”. Second, the turnover for the hotel sector was two times higher in 2009, while a
decrease of about 5% in the number of tourists was observed. One explanation for the
increase of revenues from hotels can however be found in the fact that the overall PPI-
24
H&R15 rose by 13.5 % in 2009: prices for accommodation and catering services rose by
15.7 % and 11.0 % 2009.
Table 8: Annual turnover by industry (millions shillings), 2008-2009
Source: Uganda Revenue Authority
According to WTTC, tourism contributed 7.4 % of total employment – direct and indirect (420,000 jobs). The hotels and restaurants sub-sector has shown strong growth in their
contribution to employment from 13,898 jobs in 2001/02 to 32,796 jobs in 2006/07.
Wildlife based tourism and conservation programmes in Uganda directly employ over
80,000 persons. However, the average level of salary is the lowest among other economic
sectors, whereas workers have the highest average of working hours per week (see
below).
Table 9: Employment, median earnings and average weekly hours of work
Source: Uganda Bureau of Statistics (2010)
15 The PPI-HR is an Output Price Index that measures the change in the prices that Hotel and Restaurant Service Providers
receive for the Services they provide. These Services include: Accommodation, Conference Facilities, Food, Drinks
25
3.4.Tourism management and planning
The Uganda Wildlife Policy (1999), the National Tourism Policy (2003-2010) and,
nowadays, the National Development Plan (2010- 2015), have consecutively guided the
tourism sector. The legal framework that governs the development and regulation of the
tourism industry includes: the Tourism Act (2008), the Uganda Wildlife Act (2000), the
Game Preservation and Control Act (2000) and the Historical Monuments Act (1967). The
tourism sector policy is stipulated in the Tourism Policy for Uganda (MTTI, 2003). The
tourism policy expired in 2010 and effort is underway to develop a new one by the
Ministry of Tourism Wildlife and Heritage. The major objective of the outgoing policy was
to translate tourism into a major economic sector; this is also a key objective of the NDP.
According to the NDP, the government intends to put in place a policy and operational
framework to fulfil the potential of the tourism sector. The tourism policy stipulated that
the sector should be developed in such a way that the communities and people of Uganda
participate in and benefit from the sector (MTTI, 2003). The policy aimed at developing
and promoting eco-tourism, community development and sustainable conservation.
The tourism policy (2003 -2010) highlighted a number of key objectives:
 Economic objectives: to derive greater revenues from an increasing number of
leisure tourist arrivals and to promote longer lengths of stay and higher daily
expenditure. Also, to distribute revenue earnings widely, with the large-scale
participation of communities and districts in tourism.
 Environmental objectives: to channel tourism revenue towards the conservation
of natural resources, to use protected area entry fees to generate interest in
environmental protection and to generate revenue for local governments and
communities.
 Cultural objectives: to emphasise tourism development based on Uganda's rich
culture and history, and on the diverse traditions and hospitality of its people (e.g.
museums, performance arts, monuments), to forge a Ugandan identity and
encourage cultural pride.
To complement the aspirations in the tourism policy, the NDP (2010-2015) focuses on
two key strategic interventions: developing and reviewing tourism policies, legal and
regulatory frameworks of the sector, and increasing the contribution of tourism to GDP
and employment. In the NDP, tourism is earmarked as the third primary priority sector
for eradicating poverty after agriculture and forestry.
To further assimilate these broader goals into its strategic mandate, the Uganda Tourism
Board (UTB) has developed a strategic plan which has the following specific objectives:



Position Uganda as a premier East African holiday and ecotourism destination,
with a variety of quality experiences to both inbound and national tourists by
2016
Diversify Uganda’s tourism product range
Generate, mobilise and utilise finances to enable execution of its mandate
26




Mobilise, develop and support private sector operators to become sustainable and
competitive along the entire sector value chain
Develop and equip the human resource and institutional capacity to meet the
competitive demands of the organisation
Become a research-driven proactive planning and decision-making organisation
Adopt innovative and modern technological tools in the tourism sector operations
The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) is charged with conserving, sustainably managing
and economically developing the resources in Uganda’s national parks, in partnership
with neighbouring communities and other stakeholders, for the benefit of the people of
Uganda and the global community. The UTB constitutes the other main agency of the
Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities.
The UTB is a statutory organisation established by the Uganda Tourist Board Statute in
1994. According to the new Tourism Act (2008), UTB's mandate is to promote and
popularize Uganda as a viable holiday destination both locally and internationally in
order to increase the contribution of tourism earnings to GDP, improve Uganda's
competitiveness as an international tourism destination, and increase Uganda's share in
the African and World tourism market. Owing to the institution’s inability to execute its
mandate since it was created, the current management team has decided to draft the first
ever strategic plan and business plans. These tools are to help UTB play its role in
positioning the sector in the NDP. The plan is in the final stages of its development, and if
adhered to, its impact is likely to be high.
The strategies highlighted in the national development plan should help the tourism
sector to achieve broader development objectives including: decentralisation of tourism
sector responsibilities to lower local levels, institutional and human resource capacity
building, product development, improved marketing and promotion, improved research
and planning, and overall infrastructure development. The government recognises the
insufficient resource allocation to the sector and has allowed for the tourism levy to be
operationalised by UTB (Tourism Act, 2008). Although not yet implemented, this levy
must form the key funding for tourism marketing and training activities. The government
has also promised to provide financial support through the Ministry of Finance and
Economic Development.
Despite these objectives, tourism promotion and marketing activities are nowadays still
very limited because of insufficient government funding, combined with the poor
financial situation of the private sector. Since June 2011, Uganda’s Ministry of Tourism,
Trade and Industry separated into the Independent Ministry of Tourism - Wildlife and
Antiquities and the Ministry of Trade and Industry. It is now expected that strong efforts
will be devoted to the sector’s growth and sustainability. In the National Development
Plan (2010-2014) the government of Uganda announces that actions should be taken to
improve the quality of public infrastructures.
27
Table 10: Strategic actions for improving the quality of public physical infrastructure
Additionally, the World Bank has recently funded sustainable development tourism plans
for four districts in Western Uganda. Each of the plans was created independently, and
prepared as four different development plans. These districts contain the UNESCO World
Heritage site of Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park,
Ruwenzori Mountain National Park, Kibale Forest National Park and Queen Elizabeth
National Park – protected areas that are important watersheds for Africa and which
harbour the largest number of primate species in the world.
In the National Development Plan, as well as the outgoing Tourism Policy, the private
sector is expected to play a leading role while the government provides an enabling
environment. The government observes that the private sector needs to develop a strong
organisational structure with the participation of all major stakeholders, and that the
sector’s actors need to improve their professionalism and general capabilities. The
private sector is further expected to undertake the necessary investments. The private
sector should however be provided with market data and statistics, and should be
provided with financial incentives to develop new tourism products.
While the government has positively articulated intent to prioritise and strongly support
the tourism sector, resource allocation and strategic prioritisation have not favoured the
sector over the years, until the expiry of the Tourism Policy in 2010. For instance, in the
financial year 2009/2010, the government allocated about UGX 2 billion (US$1 million)
budgetary support to the sector, yet in the same year the sector contributed more than
half a billion dollars to the economy, employed close to half a million people (compared to
263,854 in civil service in 2010) and contributed 4.3% to the GDP (UBOS, 2010; MFPED,
2011; PSFU, 2010). Efficiency of the sector is hampered by poor road networks in the
tourist circuits (it takes over 6 hours to cover a 76 km distance from Bwindi to Kabale),
inadequate technical skills of tour guides and hospitality facilities, Uganda’s bad image in
the international tourism market, uncompetitive hotel charges and ungraded hotel
facilities, lack of an operational tourism policy and 18% VAT levied on safaris to Uganda,
among others (PSFU, 2010). For the private sector, it still needs to be seen whether the
government will commit to its promises towards the sector, all the more so as an
independent Ministry for Tourism was created in 2011.
28
3.5.Recent and on-going Tourism initiatives16
3.5.1. EU - Uganda Sustainable Tourism Development Programme
Completed at the end of September 2007, the main objective of the UGSTDP was “to
contribute to the growth, development and diversification of the Ugandan economy
through sustainable growth and development of the tourism sector”. The Programme’s
specific objective, or central purpose, was to create additional sustainable economic and
financial benefits to stakeholders in the tourism sector. The Programme also sought to
build on past interventions in the tourism sector by the European Commission and
initiatives by other development partners, such as the World Bank, United States Agency
for International Development (USAID), GTZ/KFW, UK Department for International
Development (DfID) and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The four result areas were as follows: 1) Uganda’s image in the tourism market
improved; 2) Range and quality of tourist attractions and services improved; 3)
Effectiveness of public and private sector actors in the tourism sector increased; and 4)
Involvement of local communities in tourism-related activities increased.
The Programme did not have an adequate M&E system in place to satisfactorily monitor
progress and assess the impact that it had both during its implementation and after the
Programme ended.
3.5.2. UNDP (2011-2014) / UNCTAD (2012-2015)
In the process of being implemented, the UNDP’s project aims at supporting the
development of markets in tourism, and at focusing on the participation of the poor and
local communities in the tourism sector as entrepreneurs, employees and consumers.
This will contribute to increased benefits for the poor in terms of improved access to
labour and markets, increased opportunities for decent work, income, choice and
affordability for essential goods and services. The project aims to achieve the above
results by engaging specialised agencies like UNWTO, ITC, UNCTAD and others, to
provide expertise in the form of technical assistance. This technical assistance (TA) will
be short term and might take on a phased approach depending on the output area. In
particular, short term international technical advisors will be provided in the following
areas: market development, product development and institutional capacity development.
One UNV, which will have technical expertise in the implementation of tourism projects,
will also be sourced to support the project manager/implementing partner (UTB) in the
overall implementation and for the duration of the project.
16
See Annex 6 - 7, a synoptic matrix that brings together the main players/actors? in tourist promotion and
development.
29
3.5.3. The USAID/STAR project
The overall objective of the STAR program is to strengthen sustainable tourism in the
Albertine Rift by supporting biodiversity conservation. STAR intends to improve the
competitiveness of Uganda’s tourism industry through the following major strategic
initiatives:
 Renew and upgrade the Albertine Rift tourism product through market-driven
product development opportunities;
 Increase awareness and demand for Ugandan tourism products;
 Create linkages between tourism, natural resource stewardship and biodiversity
conservation;
 Establish and foster business-to-business linkages and investments;
 Improve local capacity through training, while enhancing the quality of local
tourism offerings and artisan products;
 Connect small enterprises and community-based entrepreneurs in Uganda to the
global market place;
 Monitor, and where possible, mitigate the social, cultural, and environmental
impacts of tourism development; and
 Strengthen national and local government, civil society, as well as private sector
capacity to develop and manage tourism offerings in a sustainable way.
3.5.4. The World Bank PAMSU Project
The five year project, which ended in 2007 and is now under evaluation, was supposed to
put up new offices for the Uganda Wildlife Authority, work on infrastructure in the 10
national parks and 12 wildlife reserves, build staff quarters in all the parks, demarcate all
the parks and reserves, procure equipment such as tractors for road maintenance in
parks, procure vehicles, radio equipment, as well as construct boreholes and plant trees
around Mt. Rwenzori and Mt. Elgon National Parks.
In the end, PAMSU was supposed to boost UWA’s revenue collection, minimise poaching
of key species, lead to the increase in the population of key mammal species in Queen
Elizabeth, Murchison Falls and Kidepo, among others. The program was stopped and it is
still under investigation for the misuse of US$ 33 million.
3.5.5. Community projects or associations
 UCOTA
The Uganda Community Tourism Association (UCOTA) was established in July 1998 to
empower local communities in sustainable development through small-scale tourism and
handcraft enterprises, also known as Community Tourism. To date, UCOTA has grown
into 50 member-groups countrywide, representing about 1200 individuals of whom 63%
are women and 37% men. The groups operate small enterprises ranging from
accommodation, guiding services, and restaurants to craft shops, music, dance and drama
30
performances. Most of the groups fund a community project, such as clinics, schools,
water sources and literacy programmes.
The association empowers the communities through capacity building, offering in-kind
grants, marketing for community services by making brochures, making presentations at
exhibitions, and linking communities to the private sector, as well as through advocacy at
all levels. The communities benefit further through UCOTA’s efforts to network them with
development organisations, resource mobilisation and link them with technical
volunteers and interns.
Amongst the communities, women are generally in charge (at 99%) of production and
sales of handicrafts. These women are mainly located in rural impoverished
communities that depend on subsistence farming and opportunities.
Challenges for UCOTA communities:
i)
Lack of exposure
ii)
Lack of initiative to have a collective marketing of products
iii)
Duplication of handicraft products by other communities
iv)
Lack of availability of raw materials like natural dyes used as input in basketry
and tie/dye textiles.
Example: KIKORONGO WOMEN COMMUNITY
This community is located along Fort portal – Mbarara highway, just 30 km south of
Kasese town at the Bwera road junction. The project was started in 2007 with 12 women
but has grown to 63 members in 2011. It was registered in 2009 with the intervention of
the USAID- STAR project as a way of restraining the community from poaching for
survival. The community is involved in 3 main activities:
a) Crafts. The community group conducts crafts training workshops during the
peak season (June –August) at the Simba Safari Lodge. Usually each group of
tourists pays 160,000 UGX for a maximum of 3 hours training in basket
weaving and bead work. This is spent as follows: room hire at Simba Safari
Lodge - 20,000 UGX, the community receives 28,000 UGX while the 2
instructors both receive 112,000 UGX.
This community mainly makes hats and baskets with the main raw materials
(palm leaves and raffia) from the Lake Katwe area and from Congo. On average, a
basket will take 3 weeks (part-time) to be completed and will be sold at 20,000
UGX. It was observed in their register that from July 2010 to July 2011, 5 out of 8
groups of tourists visiting the community attended the training workshops. From
these statistics, the implication is that during the high season - between June and
August - the community is able to get a gross income of 800,000 UGX from the
training.
b) Drama. The community has a drama group which also performs for tourists.
The tourists usually come in groups of 5 to 10 people and each person pays
31
20,000 UGX for this entertainment. During the low season of September to
October, the community receives an average of 8 tourists per month. From July
2010 to June 2011, it was observed from the community’s register that a total
of 188 tourists visited the community. If each of them paid at least 20,000 UGX
for a performance or training session, the community earned a gross income of
3,760,000 UGX.
c) Bee keeping. The Kikorongo women community has 12 male members. These
were recruited to help women manage the 30 beehives that the community
owns. Bee keeping has been done for 1 year now and the first harvest was in
the last week of July 2011. The group has so far harvested only 10 litres (12kg)
of honey, of which 1kg is sold for 6,000 UGX.
Recently, UCOTA, in partnership with the STAR project, has launched “pearls of Uganda”
to promote authentic cultural community attractions and experiences located throughout
Uganda ()
 COBATI – The community based tourism initiative
A Ugandan social entrepreneur called Maria Baryamujura started the community tourism
initiative in 1998. The purpose of this initiative was to empower and involve Ugandan
communities into fully participating and benefiting from tourism in their communities.
This was paused to be achieved through enhancing the capacity of local people to harness
and fulfil the tourism potential within their reach. All this was seen as a means to improve
livelihoods amongst the communities. This initiative therefore strives to empower
communities to develop and utilise community tourism as a tool for income generation.
COBATI has promoted the benefits of community tourism to target communities through
mentoring, on-spot training and outreach visits. This has particularly been carried out in
the central and western regions of the country, including Luwero district, Mbarara, and
the Bushenyi and Kanungu districts.
This initiative has three main strategies for community poverty reduction:
a) Encouraging the development of a network of homesteads across Uganda by
establishing homestead and village tourism. The idea of homestead and village
stays was developed in order to enable the traveller to experience the true
lifestyle of rural Ugandans. There are 2 main homesteads:
i)
The Bombo Village includes 3 homestays, a women’s handicraft group,
traditional dancers and a mini cultural centre. This cluster involves over
600 people, although 65 women are the main participants in the
activities. A number of activities are carried out in this village, including
hair braiding and henna painting, a traditional greeting ceremony, local
food cooking lessons, storytelling, and basket weaving lessons, all of
which are charged 10,000 UGX and last 1 to 2 hours.
32
Accommodation for one night is 30,000 UGX, while the traditional meal,
Nubian coffee and Nubian snacks each cost an average of 10,000 UGX,
depending on one’s choice.
ii)
The Ishanyu Village is another Nubian community in the Mbarara
Municipality, involving about 200 members, and which offers tourists
an opportunity to experience Nubian family hospitality along with an
opportunity to participate in some great activities including milking,
ghee making, cleaning traditional milking pots, making local yoghurt,
weaving and braiding.
As the Nubians in Bombo, this community also charges 10,000 UGX per
activity, carried out for a period of 1 to 2 hours. Their accommodation
fee is 30,000 UGX per night.
b) The initiative also offers an opportunity for the HOMESTEAD EXPERIENCE;
here the tourists participate in the activities of the host family, which becomes
their guide during the stay. Some of the activities offered to the travellers
include village walks, canoeing, listening to traditional stories from the elders,
watching how food is prepared under hot stones, games with village children,
helping with village chores and, if one is lucky, attending a local wedding
ceremony.
c) Community training is one of those activities offered by the initiative. This is
provided to Ugandan communities and individuals who are interested in
understanding the basics of community tourism and how to participate in its
development. Participants are empowered to be able to establish and provide
tourism-related services and products from their homes and communities.
On average, COBATI handles 2 of such trainings per month, with an average of 15
participants per session. Training is tailor-made and the cost usually ranges from 25,000
UGX per person to 100,000 UGX, depending on the audience. Such trainings have so far
been arranged for the Bwindi conservation trust in Buhooma, the UNDP/private sector
development programme in the districts of Bushenyi and Soroti, UCOTA, SNV Uganda etc.
 Exposure Africa
Exposure Africa was started in 1998 by a group of handicraft producers in the areas of
basketry, textile, sculpture and woodcarving, which together with the Uganda Small Scale
Industries Association (USSIA) bore an initiative of cluster marketing for their products.
The group of about 15 women grew to what holds over 35 stalls and employs about 140
persons directly, and another 450 persons indirectly through supplies and related
business.
Initially this market was created:
1. To “show case” the products as a production hub for Ugandan products. Today the
market has grown to a cosmopolitan market, displaying products from various
33
parts of Africa, including Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Congo, Rwanda and
Ethiopia.
2. To enhance quality improvement, so that different producers are able to see and
analyse what others produce and how it is done. This should create healthy
competition thereby resulting in good quality.
3. To enable producers to plan and arrange for national and international exhibitions,
as these are channels and platforms for the marketing of Ugandan products.
The market boasts collective high sales throughout the year with June, July, August,
December and January as their peak business months. On average, a stall owner in this
area is able to sell items worth 2,800,000 UGX (US$ 1,000) during these high peak months,
and will sell items worth 600,000 UGX (US$ 230) in the very low peak months.
Most of the buyers in the market are tourists who are led there by designated tour
companies that the management of Exposure Africa has approached and who have agreed
to do so. This is an initiative that is greatly boosting the market.
There is no register for Exposure Africa, but one of the leaders revealed that the market
receives a daily average of respectively 200-300 and 50-100 tourists per day in high and
low seasons.
Challenges:
1. Market saturated by handicraft items from neighbouring countries.
2. Unsystematic pricing structure which sways off buyers (e.g. when the price of an
item varies in 3 or more ways from one stall to another).
3. Inconsistency of product quality from suppliers.
4. Lack of specialisation of display in the stalls. Out of 35 shops only one stall selling
bark-cloth products is PRODUCT SPECIFIC.
5. Many stalls display products from other countries, therefore taxation, fluctuation
of the US dollar, coupled with market dues, are a big hindrance to the business in
the market.
6. With the revival of the East African community and the likelihood of a future free
movement of goods and a free trade zone within the region, the local and
indigenous products are facing a big threat.
Strengths:
1. Exposure Africa has the project to build a crafts centre, grouping local producers
in one place to respond to a huge demand.
2. Exposure Africa has built an international network of students, researchers and
volunteers providing support to local producers all year round.
34
 The National Theatre
The crafts centre was started in 1993 by a group of lecturers from the School of
Industrial and Fine Arts of Makerere University.
Reasons for establishment:
1. The university lecturers use this area to exhibit both their works and those of
their students.
2. With its proximity to the National Theatre, this area is generally a good tourist
stop-shop centre for Ugandan made handicrafts.
This crafts village previously specialised in batiks and tie-dye materials, as these were not
traditional styles but rather new and academically developed styles.
Today the crafts village has 42 stalls many of which still display batiks, textiles and
traditional bead work, but nearly all the stalls have started selling products from other
regions of the country, such as animal masks, traditional musical instruments, traditional
games (the “omweso”-board game) as well as China beads and Chinese textiles, together
with a host of products from Kenya, Rwanda, Madagascar etc.
Challenges:
1. Uniformity, consistency, workmanship or a professional “touch” are not apparent
in the products on display.
2. There is much duplication of the products from one stall to another. Every stall
displays what is on the next or previous stall.
3. There is a limited amount of Ugandan crafts that are eye-catching! Everything that
looks nice is often imported.
4. There are no specific Ugandan souvenirs being promoted. It is difficult to find a
good Ugandan product to take home.
Strengths:
1. Compared to Exposure Africa, this area has better chances of being visited by
tourists because of its proximity to the National Theatre.
2. About 50 schools drop and pick their children up from the park in this area.
Therefore the population in the area is high and offers a big turnover for the crafts
village.
3. This area does not seem crowded, it therefore gives the buyer an opportunity to
peruse or browse through the products with minimal interference.
4. A section of the market specialises in metal fabrication and carvings. This is an
edge over other producers and can attract the development of a production cluster
there.
35
5. During the high season (June to August and December to January), the village is
visited by an average of 60 tourists per day. In the low season, the numbers do not
drop so much but could have an average of 35 tourists per week. This is because
the theatre area is an affiliation of researchers, drama groups and trainers that
come throughout the year.
6. The products in this area have a better-improved quality than those of Exposure
Africa. As a result, they get better prices. On average, a stall is able to make
2,500,000 UGX (US$ 950) during high season and 1, 200,000 UGX (US$ 450)
during low season.
 Ndere/UDTA
NDERE CENTRE is Uganda’s cultural ambassador which strives to market the country so
that foreigners will cease to attribute havoc to the country but rather see its beauty. This
centre, which was conceived in 1984, sells Uganda through its cultural image, building on
the country’s languages which are used to create cultural diversity. The centre, which
operates under the Uganda Development Theatre Association (UDTA), boasts 2084
member groups in the country which have been able to create employment, promote
handicraft production and position themselves in various ways, serving:
a) As a platform for marketing Uganda’s cultural products.
b) As a cultural conduit for annual festivals to bring groups together from village
level to sub county, district and national levels (including the Ketwu Festival which
has existed since 1997).
c) As a hub for the art of fashion, so as to create a unique Ugandan brand.
Although manpower is available in terms of cultural trainers, financial issues are a
challenge as the centre depended so strongly on funds particularly from the private
sector and the Austrian Agency - which are no longer available. The management and
planning structure are there but require to be improved so that the centre’s cause could
be adjusted to best suit the situation and timing.
4. Situation analysis
The following chapter examines the environment in which the Uganda tourism business
operates and the key factors that influence how the tourism business is developed,
marketed and managed over time. We will start with an analysis of the tourism
competitiveness, including its comparative and competitive advantages. Then we will
study the SWOT of both the tourism and the crafts sectors, before looking at the policy
objectives and strategies to manage the development of the sector. Finally, we will
conclude the chapter with the perceptions and levels of satisfaction of respectively the
tour operators and the visitors.
36
The figure below summarizes the main identified issues by these tourism stakeholders.
These matters of concern can be classified within three broad categories: the lack of
access to information - both inside and outside of Uganda - for the visitors and private
companies of the sector, the low level of product and service competitiveness and the
weak management of the tourism sector.
Figure 6: Problem tree of main issues related to tourism in Uganda
Situation analysis
Communication &
Marketing
Products and services
competitiveness
Gaps in information
channels
Low quality and
product
diversification
Low awareness of
tourism-related
opportunities
Low access to
market for
promissing CBT
products and
services
Tourism
management
Weak regulation /
standardisation of
the tourism sector
No classification
and pricing system
Infrastructure and
attractiveness
Poor roads and
access to power
4.1.Tourism competitiveness
The competitiveness of the tourism sector can be analysed from three different
perspectives: its competitive and comparative advantages as an economic sector, and its
contribution to the development of the non-tourist economy through economic linkages.


Comparative advantage relates to things such as climate, beautiful scenery,
attractive beaches, wildlife etc. Comparative factors are close to the primary
tourism supply (natural, cultural and social attractiveness); and
Competitive advantage relates to tourism infrastructure, the quality of
management, the skills of the workforce, supporting industries and the role of
government policy.
To understand the competitiveness of Uganda, we should consider both the basic
elements of its comparative advantage as well as the more advanced elements that
constitute its competitive advantage.
4.1.1. Comparative advantage
37
The visitor survey made at exit points shows that game viewing is not the main reason
why international leisure tourists visit Uganda. This is of serious concern when most
efforts seem to be devoted to national parks. Actually, the interviewees expressed a broad
range of reasons for visiting the country (see table 55 in Annex 1).
Therefore, the question is about the real comparative advantage that national parks can
offer to Uganda over its neighbouring countries, since international tourists are
interested in a variety of activities and the five big mammals also live throughout the subregion (Kenya, Tanzania, etc.). Simply relying on the image of high-end safaris to generate
international tourist flows in Uganda is a high-risk strategy. Similarly, to keep giving such
emphasis to a small population of gorillas, which can be enjoyed at an expensive rate only,
could equally associate Uganda to an exclusive destination. Additionally, the limited
number of visitors that the gorilla population can withstand and the geographical
limitations that are associated with these visits are not favourable to a better distribution
of the tourism rent.
Actually, with 1060 bird species and other non-exploited cultural and natural resources,
Uganda has the opportunity to differentiate itself from its neighbouring countries. It does
not mean that safaris and gorillas should be neglected. A clear understanding of the real
comparative advantage of Uganda can be obtained through a long-term involvement of a
dynamic private sector and regular assessments of the attractiveness of Uganda on the
basis of individual visitors’ perception.
4.1.2. Competitive advantage
Uganda does not yet perform favourably in East Africa despite the fact that it reports
increased tourist arrivals. As an example, 90% of tourists in Tanzania visit for leisure
compared to 52% in Kenya. In both countries tourists visiting friends represent less than
12%. It is further shown that over 78% of Uganda’s tourists come from Africa, a region
known to be economically disempowered and generally unviable as a tourist market.
While over 48% and 34% of tourists respectively to Kenya and Tanzania originate from
Europe, in Uganda European tourists only represent 10% of the total tourist inflow.
Table 11: Tourist Arrivals, receipts and purpose of visit in East Africa (2008)
Arrivals (000’)
Receipts (US$ million)
Market share
Europe
Africa
Americas
Asia
Other
Purpose of visit
Holiday
Business
VFR
Other
Uganda
806
Kenya
729
Tanzania
714
564
767
1,159.82
9.8%
78.3%
6.9%
3.6%
0.0%
48%
24%
14%
12%
2%
33%
48%
9%
4%
14.9%
20.7%
50.4%
13.3%
52%
18%
12%
18%
90%
4%
0%
6%
38
No. of tourists in hotels
665,000
Source: UTB, 2011
From the table above, it is seen that Uganda receives more tourists than both Kenya and
Tanzania (806,000, 729,000 and 714,000 respectively) but benefits the least from the
sector. In 2008 Uganda earned about US$ 564 million, Tanzania earned over US $1.1bn
and Kenya US $767 million.
In 2004, a survey carried out with 41 tour operators in the UK, US, Italy, Germany and the
Netherlands, rated Uganda the lowest in terms of tourist awareness and destination
appeal among four other Eastern and Southern African countries 17. Amidst the reasons
behind the low interest that Uganda arouses in international tourists, a weaker
attractiveness in terms of doing business does not encourage the private sector to invest
and therefore to create its own image. In order to attract foreign capital and therefore
new experiences and knowledge, which later on will lead to an increase of
competitiveness, Uganda needs to ease or to provide incentives in doing business in the
country.
Table 12: Ease of doing business rank (out of 183 economies)
TOPIC RANKINGS
Starting a Business
Dealing with Construction Permits
Registering Property
Getting Credit
Protecting Investors
Paying Taxes
Trading Across Borders
Enforcing Contracts
Closing a Business
Source: World Bank (2011)
DB 2011 Rank
137
133
150
46
132
62
148
113
56
DB 2010 Rank
132
132
150
109
131
63
147
116
53
Change in Rank
-5
-1
No change
63
-1
1
-1
3
-3
The World Bank report of doing business (2011) places Uganda at the rank of 137 in
starting a business out of the 183 economies ranked by the financial institution. The 2010
report had put Uganda at 129th out of the 183 economies, thus indicating that instead of
improving, Uganda slipped backwards by eight places. Coupled with the WTTC tourism
competitiveness index, it appears that Uganda mostly suffers from both a lack of
infrastructure compared to Kenya and a deficit in terms of natural and cultural resources
when compared to Tanzania.
Table 13: WTTC tourism competitiveness index 2011
Travel and tourism competitiveness index
2011 INDEX
T&T regulatory framework
Policy rules and regulations
Environmental sustainability
Safety and security
Health and hygiene
Prioritisation of T&T strategies
T&T business environment and
17
Uganda
Rank
Score
115
3.36
116
3.75
100
3.89
40
4.90
117
3.93
125
2.07
110
3.94
125
2.65
Kenya
Rank
Score
103
3.51
113
3.87
103
3.83
26
5.12
139
3.17
130
1.64
18
5.56
106
2.93
Tanzania
Rank
Score
110
3.42
121
3.67
97
3.92
43
4.89
115
4.00
134
1.28
90
4.26
127
2.62
http://allafrica.com/stories/200403100025.html
39
infrastructure
Air transport infrastructure
Ground transport infrastructure
Tourism infrastructure
ICT infrastructure
Price competitiveness in T&T industry
T&T human, cultural, and natural resources
Human resources
Affinity for travel and tourism
Natural resources
Cultural resources
Source: WTTC (2011)
119
119
126
125
57
80
113
57
29
125
2.25
2.73
1.66
1.90
4.71
3.67
4.22
4.75
4.38
1.35
72
87
111
112
93
72
106
70
28
107
2.94
3.18
2.05
2.14
4.33
3.75
4.35
4.61
4.42
1.61
121
123
125
130
56
56
125
80
2
101
2.19
2.69
1.68
1.80
4.75
3.97
3.83
4.50
5.86
1.70
4.2. SWOT Analysis
Before looking at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the tourism
sector in Uganda, a number of issues were identified during the fieldwork. We therefore
propose below a non-exhaustive list of these issues for each of the tourism stakeholders.
 Central and local governments
o Tourism
management
and
competitiveness
(costing,
pricing,
standardisation)
o Effectiveness of tourism marketing and communication (internal and
external)
o Effectiveness of tourism funds management (park entrance fees)
o Weak infrastructure in some areas (roads, power, telecommunications,
access to water)
o Weaknesses in the decentralisation process. Tourism is managed at central
government level, and not assimilated within local government plans;
district commercial offices are not empowered
o Lack of effective awareness of and sensitisation on general issues
pertaining to tourism
 Private sector
o Competitiveness of middle range/low-end supply (low cost/value
products)
o Needs support for the establishment of linkages with local communities
o Low general level of salaries / absence of contracts
o Absence of regional leadership
o Needs to desist from recruiting non-professional and unqualified personnel
o Weak, disjointed and uncoordinated
o Opportunistic approach to business
 Local communities
40
o Low benefits from the tourism rent (share of expenditure going to the
poor)
o Lack of skills and capacities (innovation, empowerment)
o Lack of knowledge and appreciation of tourism development and
potential/opportunities
o Exploitation by the private sector due to disparity caused by high poverty
o Conflict with wildlife (vermin)
 NGOs and CBOs
o Lack of capacities and technical skills for product diversification and
innovation
o Lack of funds
o Not coordinated with other actors to create strong linkages between
tourism and other sectors; e.g. none have sound framework with the
National Agricultural Advisory (NAADS) to promote agricultural products
consumed in hotels and other establishments
o Successful CBOs can have high impact on the local economy; e.g. KAFRED
 Tourists
o Lack of information about community-based activities
o Lack of information on product origin and poverty reduction opportunities
4.2.1. SWOT analysis for the tourism sector in Uganda
The SWOT analysis of the tourism sector in Uganda is summarized in the table below.
Basically, Uganda owns unique cultural and natural resources, however, a low level of
services and management are weakening the commercial exploitation of these assets in a
sustainable manner. The first table below concentrates on the SWOT analysis of tourism
only. Then, we propose an in-depth evaluation of the crafts sector, which is of more
interest to ITC in the frame of this project.
41
Figure 7: SWOT Analysis of Tourism in Uganda18
Strengths
- Unspoiled and unexplored natural
resources
- Unique cultural and religious
resources
- Good climate
- Existing community-based initiatives
- Existing handicrafts skills and
production
- Existing tourism networks and
associations
Weaknesses
- Poor state of Infrastructures
- Weak public-private partnership
frameworks
- Absence of qualified skills
- High costs and access to energy
(Water, electrictiy, petrol, etc.)
- Poor production quality and diversity
- Unreliable production and services
- Weak tourism management and
regulation
- Weak competitiveness (WTTC and
world bank indexes)
Opportunities
Threats
- Growing demand for Africa
- Increased intra-regional and
international air services
Fragility of biodiversity
- The creation of the East African
Common Market
- Increasing effectiveness of
competitors
- Prevailing peace and security in the
region vs. instability in the Maghreb
region
- Instability of international tourism
- Weak image of African destinations
- Increased UN and donor recognition
of the sector as key for poverty
reduction
An analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in Uganda revolves
around the issue of improving the linkages between all tourism stakeholders and
developing good policies and frameworks to manage (regulate, standardise, promote) the
tourism sector. However, good policies on their own are meaningless if there is no
capacity to implement the strategies that are designed to achieve them.
Presently Uganda has devoted many efforts and invested much in the preservation of its
biodiversity. A share of the entrance fees to national parks (20%) is thus transferred to
local districts, offering the opportunity for the local population to submit project
proposals. However, a lack of both skills and forward thinking impedes the
18
See annex 9 for a detailed SWOT analysis table
42
implementation of projects which are more likely to offer economic alternatives to these
populations. As a consequence, project proposals are often similar from one village to
another. They respond more to a recurrent problem (vermin) without proposing
innovative solutions that would help diversify livelihood.
Apart from a competitive high-end offer, Uganda tourism and tourism-related products
and services are disorganised, uncompetitive and often inappropriate on a world market
basis. A majority of tourism and tourism-related stakeholders are not aware of
international visitors’ expectations. The vision, and consequently the price, for the locals
is often reduced to the beauty of the adjacent natural resources; gorillas have a dramatic
influence on prices no matter what the quality of services or products is. Thus, the pricing
of products and services is often set on uncommon indicators which make customers
strongly unsatisfied. Although, UTB has planned to regulate the tourism sector using the
criteria for standardisation of hotels, restaurants, and other tourist accommodation
facilities of East Africa, the lack of central government support to this issue of utmost
importance considerably weakened the initiative.
In the middle of an improving political environment, Uganda also benefits from beautiful
landscapes in which the land is highly fertile. With a regular growth in visitor arrivals and
a better product differentiation (building a new image of Uganda), the local population –
when accompanied – will definitely gain benefit from a growing demand for their
products. The initiatives are numerous but technical skills and funds are a prerequisite to
the sustainability of these projects.
4.2.2. SWOT analysis for the craft sector in Uganda
Uganda has a wide array of handicraft products such as basketry, mats, ceramics, beads,
pottery, hand textiles, woven products, toys, jewellery, bags, ornaments, leather products,
batiks and wood crafts, among others. These items are produced in almost all the districts
and regions of Uganda, using locally available raw materials, with limited product
differentiation.
Handicraft production in Uganda is cultural, traditional and predominately a cottage
industry, engaged in by youths of both gender (though largely by women), to supplement
household incomes. The tradition is to hand over craftsmanship and skills from
generation to generation. With time, tradition has waned, however, despite the fact that
the number of craftsmen has considerably decreased, master craftsmen can still be found.
In recent years, handicraft production has taken position as a major industry that has a
potential business opportunity for sustainable income generation. This has resulted in the
attraction of more artisans, traders and exporters.
However, because of the urge to earn quick money, artisans produce in fragmented
environments with no appreciation of market requirements, quality, design, standards
and systematic organisation of markets. Innovations, design and product adaptations are
limited, given the low skill capacities of the producers, and, as a result, the appreciation of
Ugandan handicrafts, especially by tourists, becomes insignificant.
43
According to the Uganda Handicrafts Export Strategy (2005), the development of the
sector is severely inhibited by the supply side (production) and marketing constraints,
including:
Production











Limited access to and inadequate supply system of raw materials
Fragmented, unstructured and individualised production systems
Low level equipment application
Low production levels
Nil or minimum access to capital
Lack of specialisation
Inconsistent product standardisation
Low designs and quality
Inadequate design skills
Inadequate production, vocational and business development training
Inadequate model incubator projects along organised production systems
Organisation and Marketing








Lack of a vibrant National Exporters Association
Insufficient market information and dissemination
Lack of appreciation of market preferences and requirements
Inadequate support for marketing and promotion
Poor or no packaging
Lack of organised district, regional or national handicraft exhibitions to facilitate
district or regional specialisation
Lack of sector supportive and adaptive policy
Lack of cooperation and programme coordination among handicraft business
support organisations
There are many organisations engaged in handicraft promotion activities though in a very
fragmented and disjointed manner. Such organisations include the Uganda Export
Promotion Board (UEPB), Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association (UWEAL),
American Growth Opportunities Act Office (AGOA), Uganda Small Scale Industries
Association (USSIA), National Organisation of Women Associations in Uganda (NAWOU),
National Arts and Crafts Association of Uganda (NACAU), Private Sector Foundation of
Uganda (PSFU), Uganda Community Tourism Association (UCOTA), Sustainable Tourism
in the Albertine Rift project (USAID, STAR) and many others.
44
Figure 8: Specific SWOT Analysis for the crafts sector
Strengths
Weaknesses
•Availability of abundant and unique local
raw materials, e.g. raffia, bark-cloth,
banana fibre, animal skin, etc.
•A wide range of traditional production
knowledge derived from indigenous
knowledge
•Current and potential internal markets
based on tourism
•Unique products rooted in the country’s
diverse culture
•Availability of cluster production in
typical homesteads and traditional
activities
•Unstructured and individualised
production systems
•Limited capitalisation and low
investment
•Limited technical skills, capacity,
technology integration and innovation
•Limited resources for production,
distribution and marketing
•Disjointed and duplication of efforts by
stakeholders in capacity building,
research, training and products
•Handicraft sector not mainstreamed into
national planning priorities
Opportunities
Threats
•An increasing flow of tourists who
provide markets for products
•Tourist interest in watching artisans and
craftsmen at work
•Increased coordination of marketing and
industry participation
•The creation of the East African
Common Market
•Increased UN and donor recognition of
the sector as key for poverty reduction
and income generation
•Competition from countries like China,
Kenya, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Congo,
which produce cheap and good quality
crafts
4.3.Tourism development plan
Tourism has not been developed as expected, despite the fact that the country has many
potential tourist attractions. The strength of tourism in Uganda is the unspoilt wilderness,
the gorillas, the rich culture and the special combination of nature and culture.
As indicated in the National Development Plan (2010), the identified constraints to the
performance of the tourism sector are:
1. Inadequate public and private institutional capacity to initiate meaningful tourism
development. The private sector on the other hand is fragmented, small and lacks
sufficient public sector support.
45
2. Inadequate policy frameworks to conserve Uganda’s cultural heritage, which is
presently threatened with extinction.
3. Limited funding: tourism promotion is costly yet the sector experiences serious
shortages in resource allocation to effectively compete with other tourist
destinations.
4. Lack of adequately skilled human resources particularly in tourism promotion,
hotels and restaurants, tours and travel, leisure and hospitality.
5. Negative perception of Uganda due to past insecurity; this has affected Uganda’s
attractiveness as a secure tourist destination. In addition, the over-reliance on
foreign tourists makes the sector highly vulnerable to external shocks.
6. Inadequate physical infrastructure support: a network of good roads and
availability of affordable air charters are essential for the comfort, safety and
security of tourists. Some existing tourist attraction facilities are inaccessible due to
the poor conditions or absence of the requisite transport infrastructure. The supply
of water, communication facilities and electricity are equally necessary.
7. Inadequate research and development of the tangible and intangible heritage.
8. Narrow product diversity: the country’s touristic activities are largely based on
wildlife, despite the existing potential in culture, community, faith-based
conferences and business tourism.
9. Inadequate research on emerging trends, markets and consumer surveys, as well as
irregular statistical information required to inform decision makers, investors and
tourists.
Despite a clear understanding of the existing constraints for the tourism sector to both
become competitive at an international level and to provide alternative sources of
livelihood in rural areas, the forecasts concerning the share of annual budget allocated to
tourism over the next five years limit dramatically the possibilities to observe
tremendous changes in this sector.
Table 14: Expenditure framework under the NDP 2010-2014
Source: NDP 2010
46
4.4. Perception and satisfaction regarding Uganda’s touristic attractions and
services
4.4.1. Tour operators’ perception of tourist resources and attractions
Only 15 tour operators agreed to answer partially or fully to the questionnaire. Based on
the provided data, they have had slightly less than 20,000 customers for the year 2010.
Difficulties were met with others in understanding the objectives of the research and its
anonymous nature. Therefore, names of companies will not appear in this document in
order to respect the agreement we have with them.
Tour operators were asked about the market size of the different regions of Uganda
(northern, southern, western, eastern and central) and the reasons for selling them or
not. All interviewed tour operators sell the western region, which constitutes their main
source of income (70%), far above all others.
Table 15: Market size of different regions for Uganda based TOs
Regions
Western
Eastern
Northern
Central
Southern
Selling Package
Average
Market size
70%
4%
10%
9%
7%
100%
85%
85%
85%
79%
The reasons for not selling one or more regions of Uganda vary from one area to another.
According to those who answered this question, only the eastern region strongly suffers
from a lack of demand market. They consider it as probably linked with the lack of
information about the area. The northern region particularly suffers from the lack of
accessibility and poor road quality. To conclude, the lack of information and activities,
associated to a low standard of quality, are the predominant factors highlighted by the
tour operators.
Table 16: Main reasons for not selling Uganda provinces
Eastern
Region
Northern
Region
Central
Region
Southern
Region
Do not know much about the area
2
1
1
2
Very specific location - not a lot of demand for it
2
1
No awareness or need for our customers to go
2
1
No demand market
4
1
Only sell specific packages
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
Expecting a better promotion from hotels
Some of our packages go through this province, but there are
not enough “developed” activities that people can really do
1
1
There’s not enough demand to make it worth the effort for us
1
2
Lack of accessibility & road quality
4
Low standard of quality (hotels, restaurants…)
1
Existence of negative issues with locals
1
47
Tour operators were then asked to give their opinion about the strengths and weaknesses
of each province (“no answer” and “did not know” were classified as “other”, and
represent the remaining percentage in the following table). With regards to their
answers, the provinces of Uganda have more strengths than weaknesses, which means
that all provinces have a real potential to attract international tourists. These answers
differ by province for some of the items. It should however be noted that only the western
province shows an important difference between its weaknesses and strengths (see table
52 in Annex 1).
The top weaknesses for each of the regions are by order of importance:

Northern region: The cost/value for money, the means of transportation, the
authentic way of life, the scenery;

Eastern region: The range of existing activities, the cost/value for money;

Western region: The cost/value for money, the means of transportation;

Central region: The wildlife, the scenery;

Southern region: The hotels and services, the cost/value for money, the means
of transportation.
We note that the main weaknesses raised by tour operators are mostly linked with the
value/cost for money and the means of transportation to the destinations. While some
external items cannot be changed, opportunities to increase the competitiveness of the
regions of Uganda exist.
First of all, the majority of regions are not price-competitive. Most of the interviewed
tour operators considered that the value for money is among the main weaknesses. The
provinces should improve the level of services and offer more choices as well as more
information for visitors. With the exceptions of the western and central regions, where
most of the tourists go, hotels and services are rated low by an important number of tour
operators.
It was also observed that the wildlife is always considered as the most attractive tourism
asset, more attractive than local communities (see Table 51 in Annex 1). It is obvious that
tour operators mostly focus on wildlife as a main triggering factor for international
tourists visiting Uganda. This is a surprising conclusion when “wildlife” is finally difficult
to sell in most of the provinces.
48
Table 17: Difficulty to sell the main attractive factors by region
Difficulty to sell
Wildlife
Local communities
Local crafts
Local entertainment
Western region
25%
60%
40%
83%
Eastern region
100%
50%
100%
50%
Northern region
71%
63%
75%
25%
Central region
75%
40%
40%
40%
Southern region
29%
25%
50%
100%
The difficulty to sell some tourism assets can first be explained by the lack of either
supply or quality. Secondly, it is also possible that some categories of tourists are not
interested in local crafts or entertainment. With the exception of the southern region, and
probably due to the existence of several projects promoting the local communities such as
the “Batwa experience”, it seems that local communities are currently difficult to sell for
at least half of the tour operators in other regions.
4.4.2. Visitor satisfaction with Uganda’s touristic attractions and services
Visitors were asked about the places they had visited and their experience or level of
satisfaction. Central Uganda (Kampala) is definitely the main region visited by tourists. It
could notably be explained by the high percentage of business tourists (51%) among the
visitors responding to the questionnaire. A Likert Scale of 1 to 5 was used to rate the level
of satisfaction by circuits or regions. The scale works as follows:
1.
= Strongly unsatisfied
2.
= Somewhat unsatisfied
3.
= Undecided
4.
= Somewhat satisfied
5.
= Strongly satisfied
The level of satisfaction was rated the highest for the Northern circuit, including
Murchison Falls National Park (4.2), the Eastern region was rated the lowest (3.3) before
Central Uganda (3.7), and the Western circuit was rated 3.9. Therefore, only one region
benefits from a rating above 4..
The lack of in-country information on destinations was rated the lowest among the
different categories proposed to the visitors (when evaluating their level of satisfaction).
It confirms evidence and testimonies gathered during the fieldwork. The choice of
transportation options (3.5) and the value for money – tours/travel (3.5) are, similarly as
with the tour operators, among the lowest sources of satisfaction.
49
Table 18: Level of satisfaction for touristic attractions and services
Average level
of
satisfaction
3.9
Do not
know
Did not
use
14.2%
17.8%
Choice of different activities/things to do/attractions
Availability of local cuisine
Value for money - restaurants/food choices
Tour guides
Value for money - local souvenirs
3.8
3.8
3.8
3.8
3.8
7.6%
5.8%
4.0%
9.8%
11.8%
18.8%
8.3%
1.2%
36.8%
21.0%
Value for money - accommodation
Value for money for transport
Availability of local souvenirs
3.7
3.7
3.6
2.8%
5.0%
8.7%
7.1%
16.1%
19.5%
Convenience when buying local souvenirs
3.6
8.9%
20.2%
Choice of transport options to destinations
Value for money - tours/travel
In-country availability of information on destinations
3.5
3.5
3.2
6.4%
7.9%
9.6%
7.2%
28.9%
22.2%
Behaviour of local souvenir sellers
Interestingly, international visitors were rather satisfied with the behaviour of local
souvenir sellers (3.9) as well as with the price of local souvenirs (3.8), but less satisfied
with their availability (3.6) or with convenience when buying them (3.6). Nevertheless,
70% of the interviewees considered that the currently available shopping facilities met
their expectations. To conclude, it should be noted that none of the ratings was above
“four”, which seemed to indicate that the majority of international tourists were not
disposed to express their satisfaction.
Table 19: Favourite activities in Uganda
Favourite activities in Uganda
Sightseeing
Game viewing
Gorilla tracking
Bird watching
Other
Community based activities
Mountaineering
%
23.6
14.5
13.6
13.2
11.8
8.6
7.7
White water rafting
6.8
Tourists were also asked to provide their three main activities during their stay in
Uganda. Interestingly, visitors preferred sightseeing to other activities, including game
viewing or gorilla tracking. This information reflects that Uganda holds many wonders
just waiting to be discovered. Based on the comments from both the tour operators and
the visitors, the road conditions were however at odds with the needed comfort for enjoy
sightseeing.
Tourists were also given the opportunity to express their view on tourism services in
Uganda. Road conditions and traffic jams were the most popular issues cited as 35.9% of
respondents proposed improving the accessibility and quality of the roads. 10.7% of
tourists were not happy with accommodation and hotel conditions. They suggested
lowering the price for accommodation by constructing new facilities, or to improve the
50
quality and conditions in the hostels and develop customer services. The question of
“availability of tourism information” was rated as an important issue by 7.7% of
respondents. They proposed developing websites, maps and improving tourism
information booths at entry/exit points and tourist information centres. 6.8% of
respondents were not satisfied with the quality and organisation of the tours. Better
trained guides, binoculars to see wildlife better, and white rafting expeditions were some
ways suggested to improve this service. Other improvements in Uganda’s tourism
industry could be made by developing cheaper and safer transport services (5.8%),
reducing corruption rates (3.9%), cleaning up the city (2.9%) and solving the problem of
inadequate power and water supplies (1.9%).
5. Uganda Tourism Value Chain
Tourism is generally understood as a service product based industry. The value chain
delivers a tourism product to the tourist as a consumer. However, tourism is quite
complex insofar that it has a double structure to it. People consume tourism products
from the global supply of holiday providers (i.e. buying a holiday to Uganda from a
tourism company). Then, when in destination, the second level of market supply comes
into play. Tourism consumers (or their tourism providers) buy and consume products
and services in the destination market place deriving from the multiple service and goods
based supply chains. It is in this second market that local economic impact is actually
generated. The primary market providers (tourism operators) are critical to generate
demand in the secondary market by virtue of their action, which is to channel consumers
to the destination. Each tourism product is therefore a packaging of sub-products from
multiple value chains.
A ‘pure’ value chain analysis looks at the end-to-end expense of a particular product
(from the overall package price paid in the source market, including the retailer profit
and overheads, air fares, travel insurance and other items unrelated to “in-country
expenses”).
Many value chain based studies focus on the high degree of leakage. It is now widely
viewed that the leakage is typically less relevant than the levels of linkages within a
country. It is in the nature of the industry that a high part of a package price goes
towards airfares / shipping fees etc., but this is of no concern to the destination country.
What concerns the governments, industry and people of a country is how much is spent
in the country, what stays in the country, and what benefits whom (i.e. distribution by
economic status, geography, ethnicity, gender, etc.). Therefore, this report deliberately
avoids the package price breakdown approach for the most part, and looks at expenditure
in country and the net benefits of this expenditure.
51
Table 20: Concept and structure of the tourism value chain
Key:
Non-Tourism Sectors
Tourists
Direct
Service
Providers
Support
Institutions
Source: Mitchell and Lee (2007)
5.1. The visitors
5.1.1. Visitor demographics
As mentioned earlier in this report, an exit survey (airport and border checkpoints) was
undertaken in early October to gather information on the segmentation of international
tourists in Uganda. A total of 335 persons were randomly interviewed, providing a
statistically significant sample of the current tourist population.
Table 21: Nationality and origin of respondents
AMERICA
KENYA
EUROPE
UNITED KINGDOM
TANZANIA
RWANDA
ASIA-PACIFIC
OTHER AFRICA
CONGO
SUDAN
MIDDLE EAST
Nationality
76
68
49
30
23
20
15
13
11
8
5
Origin
58
87
33
21
25
23
9
6
11
12
2
Out of the 335 respondents, only 318 provided their nationality. The main nationality of
persons visiting Uganda was North American (60 American and 11 Canadian). However,
the main country of origin for the respondents was Kenya. Approximately 41% of
respondents came from neighbouring countries, namely the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan and the United Republic of Tanzania.
52
A crossed analysis of the country or region of origin with the main purpose of visit
allowed us to establish that visitors from neighbouring countries (Kenya, Tanzania,
Congo) mostly entered Uganda for business purposes. Visitors from Rwanda and
Southern Sudan did not provide all the information concerning their purpose of visit,
which prevented us from drawing conclusions on their characteristics.
Table 22: Main purpose for visiting Uganda by region of origin
Business
UNITED KINGDOM
EUROPE
AMERICA
ASIA-PACIFIC
MIDDLE EAST
OTHER AFRICA
CONGO
KENYA
RWANDA
SUDAN
TANZANIA
Total
45.5%
42.1%
40.0%
66.7%
0.0%
33.3%
60.0%
71.3%
20.8%
26.7%
70.4%
51%
Main purpose for visiting Uganda
Educational
Holiday
VFR
Volunteer
purpose
(student)
31.8%
13.6%
0.0%
4.5%
18.4%
5.3%
5.3%
10.5%
26.7%
15.0%
16.7%
0.0%
11.1%
11.1%
0.0%
0.0%
25.0%
50.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
16.7%
0.0%
33.3%
10.0%
10.0%
0.0%
0.0%
9.2%
8.0%
0.0%
4.6%
16.7%
33.3%
4.2%
0.0%
6.7%
6.7%
0.0%
20.0%
3.7%
14.8%
0.0%
3.7%
16%
13%
6%
6%
Other
4.5%
10.5%
1.7%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
20.0%
3.4%
16.7%
26.7%
3.7%
9%
It is also interesting to observe that a majority of visitors from Europe and America were
equally in Uganda for business purposes. It should be noted that within the month of
October, being fairly low season compared to months June-September which are high
season, the types of visitors surveyed did not particularly follow the pattern of all visitors
to Uganda.
Besides business travellers, family visits represented the main reason for visiting Uganda.
Studies and voluntary work were the second motives.
Table 23: Specific purposes of visit
Specific purposes of visit
%
Family visit
22.5
15.8
Study/Internship/Volunteer work
Round Trip
Game viewing
Gorillas
Other
Local communities
Bird watching
Spiritual holiday
12.5
9.2
8.3
8.3
4.2
4.2
3.3
Cultural holiday
3.3
Honeymoon
2.5
2.5
Adventure
Festivals
1.7
Eco-tourism holiday
1.7
Spa/wellness
0.0
53
A majority of respondents were male (70%), although the ratio of males to females varied
across the types of visitors. The share of male and female visitors was however more
balanced among holiday takers (59% / 41%).
Table 24: Age by country of origin
CONGO
AMERICA
EUROPE
ASIA-PACIFIC
UNITED KINGDOM
OTHER AFRICA
MIDDLE EAST
SUDAN
RWANDA
TANZANIA
KENYA
Average
48.7
44.8
44.0
41.4
40.1
38.2
38.0
37.4
35.4
33.4
35.3
Male
48.7
44.4
46.6
45.2
41.5
38.2
43.0
37.7
35.3
34.8
36.0
Female
48.5
45.3
37.6
30.0
35.5
23.0
26.0
35.5
33.1
33.2
The mean age of visitors varied considerably across nationalities, gender, and according
to the category of interviewees (see Table 56 in Annex 1). The average age of respondents
was 43.1 years for international visitors and 36 years for regional visitors. In general,
Congolese (48.7 years) visitors to Uganda were older than other visitors. In contrast,
Kenyan visitors (35.3 years), who represented the majority of visitors, were on average
the youngest.
Female visitors tended to be younger than their male counterparts. With the exception of
American and Congolese visitors, the majority of female visitors were under 40 years of
age in all groups of nationalities. Volunteers, students and VFR (Visit Friends and
Relatives) were more likely to be under the mean age.
Table 25: Age bracket by country of origin
UNITED KINGDOM
EUROPE
AMERICA
ASIA-PACIFIC
MIDDLE EAST
OTHER AFRICA
CONGO
KENYA
RWANDA
SUDAN
TANZANIA
< 25
25-30
31-35
36-40
41-45
46-50
51-60
0.0%
18.4%
5.4%
0.0%
25.0%
0.0%
0.0%
9.9%
0.0%
0.0%
18.2%
17.6%
10.5%
10.7%
12.5%
0.0%
0.0%
22.2%
29.6%
38.1%
38.5%
13.6%
11.8%
2.6%
10.7%
12.5%
25.0%
60.0%
11.1%
14.8%
23.8%
7.7%
27.3%
11.8%
10.5%
16.1%
25.0%
25.0%
0.0%
0.0%
14.8%
14.3%
23.1%
22.7%
23.5%
5.3%
8.9%
25.0%
0.0%
20.0%
11.1%
16.0%
4.8%
7.7%
13.6%
23.5%
7.9%
12.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
6.2%
9.5%
7.7%
4.5%
11.8%
34.2%
19.6%
25.0%
0.0%
20.0%
22.2%
7.4%
4.8%
7.7%
0.0%
>60
0.0%
10.5%
16.1%
0.0%
25.0%
0.0%
33.3%
1.2%
4.8%
7.7%
0.0%
For all neighbouring nationalities, with the exception of the Congolese, the main age
bracket was below the age of 35. In contrast, European and American visitors were more
likely to be over the age of 50. Therefore, the majority of westerners (European and
American) were not a public of adventurers.
54
5.1.2. Means of transportation and number of countries visited
A majority of respondents (70%) entered Uganda by air via Entebbe International Airport,
while the others entered by car or bus through one of the border checkpoints in Kenya,
Tanzania, Rwanda, Congo or Sudan.
Figure 9: Map of Uganda showing exit points
Source: UBOS 2010
The exit points slightly differed from the entry points.
Table 26: entry and exit points of interviewees
Border
checkpoint
ENTEBBE
Entry
point
70%
Exit
point
73%
MALABA
6%
1%
KATUNA
6%
9%
BUSIA
9%
10%
CYANIKA
1%
0%
MUTUKULA
5%
5%
LWAKHAKHA
0%
0%
NIMULE
OTHER
1%
3%
2%
1%
55
According to the survey, 41.9% of visitors to Uganda were on a multi-country trip,
travelling to an average of 2.4 countries (including Uganda). A majority combined a trip
to Kenya (64) and / or Tanzania (44). For those on a multi-country trip, their average
length of stay was longer in Tanzania (6.7) than in Kenya (4.3).
5.1.3. Travel Party
A majority of visitors to Uganda travelled alone (62.7%) and came more often to Uganda
than group visitors did. Moreover, the frequency of visit was especially high in Uganda. It
could be explained by the high number of both business tourists and tourists visiting
friends and family.
Table 27: Travel party, frequency of visit and ALOS
Travel party
Alone
With friends
Couple
Group tour
With family
Total
62.7%
12.2%
7.2%
6.9%
3.9%
100%
Frequency
of visit
3.8
3.2
2.7
2.6
2.9
3.5
ALOS
5.9
6.9
7.3
7.7
3.9
6.3
The average length of stay (ALOS) was particularly low for interviewees travelling with
their family. The table below details that most visitors from this category (travelling with
family) were from neighbouring countries, which could explain this trend.
Table 28: Country of origin and travel party
Frequency
ALOS
Alone
UNITED KINGDOM
EUROPE
AMERICA
ASIA-PACIFIC
MIDDLE EAST
OTHER AFRICA
CONGO
KENYA
RWANDA
SUDAN
TANZANIA
Total
2.1
2.5
2.7
3.1
1.5
3.3
5.4
4.1
3.7
5.1
4.4
3.5
10.3
9.2
9.4
3.1
11.3
3.8
4.5
4.3
5.2
3.4
4.6
6.3
68%
50%
55%
78%
50%
100%
40%
68%
63%
73%
81%
62.7%
With
family
0%
0%
5%
0%
0%
0%
0%
3%
8%
7%
4%
3.9%
Travel party
Couple
9%
11%
10%
11%
0%
0%
0%
6%
8%
0%
7%
7.2%
With
friends
9%
16%
10%
11%
25%
0%
40%
13%
13%
7%
0%
12.2%
Group
tour
9%
21%
10%
0%
0%
0%
0%
3%
0%
7%
7%
6.9%
Visitors from the following neighbouring countries - Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan and Rwanda
- and some international visitors (United Kingdom) mostly travelled unaccompanied.
Westerners (European, American), and more particularly Congolese visitors, also
travelled with friends, or in a group tour. The frequency of visit was higher for the
neighbouring countries but the length of stay was not. Therefore, we observed an
opposite relationship between the frequency of visit and the ALOS when taking into
56
account the distance from the country of origin to Uganda. The sample size of visitors
from Asia-Pacific (9) does not allow any conclusions to be made on this group of
nationalities.
From the data it was difficult to provide a breakdown of visitors using the common
classification of FIT (Free Independent Travellers) and GIT (Group Inclusive Tour).
Respondents who reported travelling with their friends sometimes belonged to large
groups, though they did not consider being part of a group-tour. Definitively here, visitors
travelling alone were more likely to not be considered as GIT (Group Inclusive Travel), i.e.,
not on a package tour.
Table 29: Travel party and package tour
Travel party
Alone
With friends
Couple
With family
Group tour
Are you on a
package tour or
prepaid trip?
No
Yes
198
10
36
5
21
3
13
0
13
Number of
people
travelling with
respondent
0
1.3
1.0
1.1
10
4.5
A breakdown of visitors could be made as follows:
- Group inclusive - people who pre-pay and travel in a group on a predetermined itinerary;
- FIT pre-paid - small group (e.g. 4 friends) who have an itinerary which is tailormade for them, but still pre-pay large elements (accommodation, some meals,
some tours) to a travel agent in their home country;
- FIT - book elements independently and pay on the ground for all services
consumed.
The table above also details the average number of people travelling with respondents.
On average, people travelling with their family travelled with slightly less people (1.1)
than people travelling with friends did (1.3). The number of friends and family
accompanying respondents varied across regions and countries of origin, with no
discernable definitive patterns. As expected, visitors travelling on group-tours did so with
a larger number of people (4.5).
International visitors to Uganda for the holidays mostly travelled alone or independently
as a couple. Whatever the purpose of visit, the majority of respondents travelled alone.
Table 30: Travel party by purpose of visit
Alone
With friends
Group tour
With family
Couple
Business
Holiday
VFR
Volunteer
Educational
purpose
(student)
other
122
15
8
3
15
8
7
4
24
6
2
2
7
4
3
0
12
0
3
1
20
4
0
3
2
13
5
3
0
0
57
5.2. Accommodation and food
In the early days of the industry, the government spearheaded the development of hotels
with minimal private sector participation. However the privatisation and liberalisation of
the economy since 1987 have attracted private companies to invest in new hotels, resorts,
lodges and other tourist accommodations. The hotel and restaurant businesses’ output
grew from 6.5% to 10.7% between 2004 and 2008. In 2001, Uganda had about 60 hotels
with about 1789 rooms and 50 wildlife accommodation facilities, with a combined
capacity of 972 rooms. In 2009, 1138 accommodation establishments were registered in
Uganda (see figure below). Today the sector contributes about 4.3% to GDP and employs
about 7% (430,000) of the total non-farm workforce.
Figure 10: Number and types of businesses in the accommodation sector
Number of accommodation businesses (2009)
10000
9000
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Rooms
Establishments
Source: UBOS 2010
According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics and the Private Sector Foundation current
Business Register (2007), there is a total of 3,411 registered businesses in the category of
hotels and camping sites, as well as bars and restaurants in Uganda. The register is
restricted mainly to businesses employing 5 or more persons. The register indicates that
65% (2,228) of the enterprises in the sector are restaurants and bars, compared to only
35% (1,183) of hotels and camping sites. Among the enterprises in the hotel and
restaurant sub-sector, 180 enterprises employ fewer than 4 people, 2365 enterprises
employ 5-9 people, 647 employ 10-19 people, 186 employ 20-49 people and only 33
enterprises employ more than 50 people. A regional distribution of businesses in the
hotels and restaurants sector shows that close to 40% (1315) of the businesses are found
in Kampala, as shown in the table below:
Table 31: Distribution of hotels and restaurants by region in Uganda
Hotels & camping sites
Bars and restaurants
Total
Kampala
344
971
1315
Central
178
397
575
East
199
343
542
North
224
175
399
West
238
342
580
Total
1183
2228
3411
Source: Business Register Update 2006/07, (UBOS & PSFU).
58
In Kampala, 74% of the businesses are restaurants and bars, and only 26 % are hotels and
camping sites. The western and northern regions each have 20% of the hotels and
camping sites. Furthermore, a majority of businesses (77%) are owned by Sole
Proprietors. Out of the 180 enterprises with fewer than 5 employees, women own about
66% (119) of the enterprises in that sub-category, and the annual turn-over of most of
these firms is less than UGX 50 million. Women also own 15% of enterprises that employ
over 50 employees.
Table 32: Employment in hotels and restaurants
Hotels and camping sites
Restaurants and bars
Total
Percentage
Businesses
1183
2228
3,411
Male
7771
7383
15,134
46.1
Female
6,925
10,737
17,662
53.9
Total
14,696
18,100
32,796
Average
12
8
10
Source: Business Register Update 2006/07, (UBOS & PSFU).
According to the table above, the hotel and restaurant sub-sector employs more women
(53.9%) than males (46.1%) and, on average, a hotel employs 12 people while a
restaurant employs 8 people. In any given restaurant or hotel, one would expect at least
10 employees.
Table 33: Accommodation capacity for selected hotels in Uganda, occupancy rates and guest nights in
2003/2005/2008
Year
2003
2005
2008
Accommodation
capacities
Room occupancy
Guest nights
Occupancy
rates
Bed/room
occupancy
ratio
# Rooms
# Bed
spaces
Room nights
sold
Bed nights
sold
Foreign
Domestic
Room
Bed
534,117
788,614
251,990
284,857
136,724
148,139
44.6
33.1
1.13
801,176
946,337
282,931
314,812
146,554
168,258
35.3
33.3
1.11
1,255,175
1,656,089
377,241
475,366
229,437
245929
30.1
28.7
1.26
The information in the table above was based respectively on 51, 72 and 72 hotels in
2005, 2005 and 2008 – information compiled by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics. The
table shows that the accommodation sector has been growing rapidly over the years.
However, while the number of rooms available for sale has grown from about 534,000 in
2005 to over 1,2055,000 in 2008, and as bed spaces have correspondingly increased,
room occupancy has fallen from 44.6 % in 2005 to 30 % in 2008. Bed occupancy also fell
from 33 % in 2005 to 28.7 % in 2008.
These negative relationships between room, bed space growth and occupancy levels are
indicative of a lack of information on the investment climate. Without statistically
significant data on the sector but with a growing trend in visitor arrivals, investors can
consider the Ugandan tourist sector as very healthy. However, Uganda is still receiving a
low proportion of leisure tourists. We can however observe that the recent investments
59
in the tourism sector are more associated with small tourism investors than linked with
one of the major international tourism brands.
Table 34: Contribution of hotels and restaurants subsector to Uganda’s GDP
Hotels & restaurants (GDP, billion shs)
Air transport (GDP, billion shs)
Hotels monthly earnings (‘000 shs)
Tour operators (employment)
2006
818
125
2007
954
166
2008
1,149
210
212
2009
1486
203
275
3424
2010
1,666
217
283
Source: UBOS, 2011; MTTI, 2009
In the table above, we may observe that the contribution of the hotels and restaurants
subsector to Uganda’s GDP has doubled from UGX 818 billion in 2006 to UGX 1666 billion
in 2010. Also the contribution of air transport has increased from UGX 125 billion to UGX
217 billion over the same period. Tour operators in Uganda employ approximately 3424
people.
5.3.Excursions and guides
In a survey among tourism stakeholders, looking at the promotional means used in
marketing their enterprises, the results reveal that Internet was the most commonly used
mode of promotion. Out of 39 responses, 32 respondents (82%) ranked the Internet as
their number one mode of promotion. Personal selling (by word of mouth) ranked
number two, followed by brochures, trade fairs and exhibitions.
On average, each tour operator interviewed in 2008 by the Ministry of Tourism, Trade
and Industry was found to be employing about 16 people, although with an uneven
distribution among the various operators. Most of the guides were certificate holders
(42%) while those who had degrees and diplomas represented 23% and 33%
respectively. In 2008, the earnings from 47 tour operators amounted to UGX 31.12 billion.
5.4.Transportation
Kampala, which accounts for 64% of the total transport businesses, has the highest
proportion of transport businesses in Uganda. This dominance is due to the fact that
Kampala is the main business centre of the country. The Eastern region has 18% of the
transport businesses, while the rest of the other regions have less than 10% each (UBOS,
2011). According to UBOS (2011), the transport sector employs close to 15,000 persons.
A majority of these employees (84%) are males and are mostly concentrated in the land
transport subsector. The Private Sector Foundation (2010) reports that the country has a
total of 10,965 km of roads, of which about 30% are paved. Most of these roads - paved or
not - have potholes. This limits easy access to tourism areas and causes delays due to
unnecessarily long travel times. The poor state of roads is the second leading
infrastructure constraint identified by private firms (PSFU, 2010).
60
The railway network, which could potentially serve as an alternative, has almost
collapsed and efforts to attract a new investor have not been successful since the Rift
Valley Railways (RVR) consortium failed.
The transport business is regulated by the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW). The
Uganda Transport Licensing Board (TLB), a branch of the MTW, is responsible for
regulating the use of public transport vehicles, private omnibuses, goods vehicles and the
producer/sellers’ vehicles throughout Uganda. The Board is the only agency in Uganda
that grants routes for bus operations. It undertakes inspection and licensing of Public
Service Vehicles, conducts biannual public inquiries to consider applications for omnibus
operators (bus routes) and monitors bus services on routes to ensure compliance, among
other activities.
Although what is cited above are reported as being activities performed by the TLB, there
were no up to date reports from which secondary information could be obtained about
the transport sector. TLB claimed not to have the necessary resources (equipment and
staff) to appropriately accomplish its mission. Technical control was limited to the visual
inspection of vehicles and the number of vehicles, and their allocation to public transport
routes was decided without reference to transport planning studies.
The different public transport operators have different associations. These associations
control specific stages and routes, and collect dues from the vehicles that use the routes.
The associations have total control over the bus parks but pay annual subscriptions to the
city and town council authorities. Because of the need for more dues collections from
public transport vehicles, any potential candidate easily meets the technical and legal
conditions that are required to enter the transport business. For instance, to become a
bus operator, all that is required is a vehicle, no matter its condition and age. Because the
responsible government agencies are under-staffed and not equipped to carry out the
planning, regulation and monitoring functions, these associations set fares, allocate
routes and carry out self-enforcement on their operations.
According to the Uganda Taxi Drivers Association (UTODA) - the entity in charge of
regulating, monitoring and allocating routes to public taxis - there is a total of about
50,000 taxis in Uganda. Most of these vehicles are reconditioned, and ownership
varies/ranges from individuals to companies. There is freedom of entry and exit into this
business as long as one has a vehicle and has attained a Passenger Service Vehicle License
(PSV). Estimates with the leadership of UTODA indicated that these taxis employed up to
100,000 people directly as drivers and conductors and employed thousands of others
indirectly (all at different stages: mechanics, fuel pump attendants, traffic guides, UTODA
officers, etc.). This business was able to generate up to UGX 2,500,000,000 daily (for the
economy) and contributed greatly to other businesses such as fuel retailers facilitating
movement of labour force from places of residence to work.
The chairperson “Boda Boda” (motorcycle) Association revealed that there was a total of
more than 100,000 commercial motorcycles in Kampala. The distribution of these
motorcycles was as follows:
61
Rubaga
250
No. of
boda
bodas
30,500
Makindye
200
27,000
Kawempe
204
20,000
Kampala City
Division
Stages
Challenges faced










Kampala central
380
24,000







Total
1,034
Insecurity
High interest rates when they need to borrow (10-15% per
month from non-commercial banks)
Ever increasing prices for fuel
Insecurity
Are being used by politicians
No training centres for “boda boda” cyclists
Insecurity in the area for both “boda boda” riders and other
people
Vicious cycle of poverty which pushes “boda boda” drivers
to borrow money from which they do not benefit.
The cost of the permits is too high (e.g. licenses, psvs)
They pay money for insurance but when they have
accidents they are not compensated.
Sensitization on lack of “boda boda” training (e.g. on HIV)
Health security like ambulances, etc.
Parking is not organised
They do not have helmets, driving permits or licenses, thus
they offer disorderly services
The costs of getting these requirements are expensive (e.g.
insurance). The license costs UGX 195,000; almost as
much as a car.
No training school for the “boda bodas”
Do not get immediate assistance in case of accidents
101,500
The contribution of “boda bodas” to the economy was noteworthy. This business directly
employed over 100,000 people in Kampala city, most of whom were youths. Conservative
estimates (assuming daily earning of UGX20,000) indicated that this sub-sector of
transport contributed up to UGX 2,030,000,000 net income daily (US$ 780,000), which
translated to UGX 50,750,000,000 (US$ 19.5 million) per month. “Boda boda” cyclists
estimated daily fuel consumption at two litres per motorcycle, which would translate into
a monthly fuel expenditure of UGX 38,570,000,000 (US$ 14.8 million). They also claimed
to provide business to food sellers, mechanics, spare parts sellers and importers.
With regard to bus services, the survey found a total of 15 bus companies that provided
regional and international transport services. There were buses travelling to Kenya,
Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and beyond.
Foreigners owned more than 80% of these companies, mainly from within the region.
Each bus carried an average of 66 passengers (per trip) and the fares varied by
destination and season of year. Some of the bus companies offered executive services and
others provided ordinary economy class services. Each bus company had a fixed schedule
within which some had up to three shifts per day, while others had only one shift per day.
International bus companies had an average of 3-5 stopover points on their journeys.
62
The local bus companies were more than 50 in number and Ugandans owned nearly all of
these. Some companies owned up to fifty buses and some owned only one bus. They only
operated long routes, connecting Kampala to the different parts of the country. Due to
lack of stop-over points many would stop at fuel stations for passengers to relax – and
they often stopped at roadside markets to allow passengers to buy refreshments and
snacks. A few of the bus companies operated executive services and charged some extra
money; many of these services were available to night travellers. The booking system was
still manual, and it was not possible to book for a return journey. There were claims of
widespread ignorance of the fares among travellers as the charge often depended on the
passenger’s bargaining power.
For all the transport businesses described above, the peak season starts in November up
to early January. April is also a peak season. During these seasons transport fares often
double, as demand tends to be higher due to people travelling upcountry for the
Christmas and Easter celebrations. The rest of the months are reported as average
months.
5.5. Crafts, visual arts and entertainment
As seen earlier, Uganda has a variety of handicraft products ranging from basketry, mats,
ceramics, beads, pottery, hand textiles, woven products, toys, to jewellery, bags,
ornaments, leather products, batiks and wood crafts, among others. These items are
produced in almost all the districts and regions of Uganda, using locally available raw
materials like papyrus, raffia, palm leaves, jute fibre and recycled materials like paper and
plastic straws. These items have limited product differentiation based on culture, history
and traditions. The sector is dominated by women, youths and the disabled, all selling
mainly to the country’s tourists.
The main market for Uganda’s handicraft products include the EU-25 gifts and decorative
articles under EBA (Every thing But Arms) - and the USA under AGOA (American Growth
Opportunities Act), both of whom offer preferential treatment for Uganda’s handicraft
products.
Currently most of the handicrafts are sold domestically to local buyers and tourists, with
a few being exported to the USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, Denmark, Italy, the UK and
Japan. Other existing markets for Uganda’s crafts are Ugandans in the Diaspora and
Kenyan traders who buy and blend Ugandan craft pieces and re-export them to Europe
and the USA.
HANDICRAFT MARKETS IN KAMPALA
Markets for handicrafts in Kampala include two major enclosures of Exposure Africa at
Buganda road and the National Theatre crafts market. These are places which are
commonly accessed by high-end tourists due to their proximity to the 5 star hotels in the
city.
There are 2 other weekly markets that bring different communities every Friday: one at
Makerere roundabout yard and another along 6th Street in the industrial area. These are
mainly wholesale markets from whom most retailers purchase their crafts for re-sale. A
63
good number of tourists, especially those in caravans and backpackers, have found these
types of craft markets favourable. In this category we also find the seasonal Railway
Parking Yard Market, which community producers utilise to exhibit their products
usually upfront to the festive seasons like Easter, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Banana Boat is the only chain crafts store in Kampala with 3 outlets at Kisementi
Shopping Centre, Lugogo Mall and Garden City Shopping Mall. All Serena Hotel guests that
take home souvenirs and cannot find them in the hotel’s craft shop in the lobby are only
directed to these stores, basically because of their high quality products and their super
packaging capabilities. Every high-end tourist visits one of these stores while in Kampala.
The Uganda Manufacturer’s Association (UMA), in collaboration with the Private Sector
Foundation of Uganda (PSFU), The Uganda Women Entrepreneurs’ Association (UWEAL)
and the Uganda Investment Authority organises annual trade fairs. It is during this period,
usually in the month of October (to coincide with the independence celebrations) that
artisans, craft producers, design schools and schools of Art showcase their products. The
trade fair is accessible to the general public and especially to business people from the
COMESA and East African Region, 85% of whom carry back home craft products and
souvenirs.
More recently, communities around Kampala, especially those in the slum areas such as
the Acholi quarters in Kireka, Kinawataka, Namuwongo, Kisenyi and Katwe, each with a
population of over 3,000 people, have become the main producers of handicrafts from
recycled products such as paper and plastic straws. They are entering the market for
tourists and are becoming major sources of craft articles and souvenir producers.
There are other organised women and community groups that have leadership which
connects directly to the export market. Such groups include the National Association for
Women Organisations in Uganda (NAWOU), which organises items from different
communities, exports them on their behalf and later works out the financial logistics
required. These target the North American market. Uganda Crafts 2000 Ltd is another of
such organisations. It is a Fair Trade craft wholesaler and retailer which collaborates with
international organisations from Canada, Denmark and England in the handicrafts trade.
Over the past 2 years (2009-2011), hawkers and street sellers of handicrafts have
emerged especially along the heavy traffic routes such as Jinja, Wandegeya and Kampala
roads. These are able to sell a few souvenirs, batik art pieces and woodcrafts to both
locals and foreigners.
6. Definition of the poor
Looking at poverty distribution in Uganda, Robert et al. (2006) have explored a novel
approach in which they combine household survey data with a suite of environmental
variables that are either direct measures of key climatic variables, descriptor variables of
key ingredients of poverty-generating processes (such as agricultural production
systems) or proxies for constraints on the health and well-being of the human
64
populations. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for which the
authors were doing the poverty mapping has identified eight broad classes of poverty:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Material deprivation
Lack of assets
Isolation
Alienation
Dependence
Lack of decision-making power
Vulnerability to external shocks
Insecurity
Most commonly, poverty measurement is based on material deprivation that is generally
linked to the inability of incomes or expenditures to meet basic needs and nutritional
needs, as defined by a consumption-based poverty line. Using the full sample of 2005/06,
the UBOS estimated 31.1 % of Ugandans to be poor, corresponding to nearly 8.4 million
persons. The table below provides more detailed statistics, broken down by region and
rural-urban areas.
Table 35: Poverty statistics in the UNHS 2005/06
Source: UBOS 2010
While on a national level the population below the poverty line is 31.1%, the poverty
incidence is highest in the northern region (at 60.7%), followed by the eastern region (at
35.9%), then the western region (at 20.5%) and finally the central region (at 16.4%). The
high incidence of poverty in the north is attributed to the insurgence which disrupted
economic activities.
The P0 indicator is a “headcount”; the percentage of individuals estimated to be living in
households with real private consumption per adult equivalent below the absolute
poverty line for their rural or urban sub-region.
The P1 indicator is the “poverty gap”. This is the sum of the poverty line and the shortfall
in the private consumption per adult equivalent of individuals below the absolute poverty
line, divided by the absolute poverty line. One way to interpret the P1 is that it gives the
per capita cost of eradicating poverty as a percentage of the poverty line if money could
be targeted perfectly.
65
Consumption expenditure data (Consumption Per Adult Equivalent: CPAE) can also be
used to characterise chronic poverty. It shows that the consumption per adult equivalent
is inversely correlated to the level of poverty. In the poorest area of Uganda, the northern
rural region, the average consumption per adult equivalent is equal to 20,500 UGX per
month (US$ 7.26).
Table 36: Comparison of poverty estimates by region
Source: UBOS (2006)
7. Aggregated tourism expenditures and pro-poor income
From a yield perspective there are three main measures which help assess the
contribution that tourism makes to an economy:
 Total Economic Impact (TEI) – i.e. all the in-country spending from tourism.
 Local Economic Impact (LEI) – i.e. all the in-country spending from tourists staying
in the country.
 Poverty Impact– money generated through tourism jobs and incomes which goes
to the poor and near poor. In Uganda, the benefits that poor communities make
from tourism can be mostly summarised as follows:
- Direct benefits
o 20% of park entrance fees are given to local district authorities. The
communities have to present a project proposal in order to get access to
these funds.
o Community projects (10 micro-projects under the umbrella of the STAR
project)
o Community tours
o Employment
-
Indirect benefits
o Supply of fruits, vegetables, fish and meat to tourism stakeholders.
o Supply of crafts and performances to tourism stakeholders.
The following figure provides a description of the different levels of impact, highlighting
how the tourist spending flows inside the economy.
66
Figure 11: Impact concept for tourism
Source: PI (2010)
Recent research work has stated that “with the exception of wages, most of the income
generated through direct effects within the tourist economy goes to hotel and restaurant
owners, namely local or international elites. By contrast, the income generated through
indirect effects trickles down to the lower income layers of the economy. Since most of
the industries that supply the tourism economy are non high-tech, and are labour
intensive, the majority of backward linkages are forged by smaller unskilled producers”.19
A simplified Tourism Value Chain
Figure 12: Simplified Tourism Value Chain
Accommodation
Hotels/Hostels/Campsites/Ba
ndas/safari lodges
Catering
Souvenirs
Hotels, Hostels, Campsites, safari
lodges, Restaurants, Bars
Transport
Trips and expeditions
Urban/rural
Interurban
Hotels, Hostels, Campgrounds,
Souvenir Shops, Markets, shops,
Craftsmen,
Agencies and
foreign, national
and local people
Bus, Taxi,
Rentals
Supplies, taxes,
electricity, wages,
maintenance...
Supplies, taxes, electricity, wages,
maintenance+ Food and Drinks:
Wholsale dealers, Markets, Grocery
Stores, Supermarkets, Food
Production
Entrance fees
to National
parks
Other
Taxes, tips,
donations….
salaries,
utilities, etc.
Mototaxi,
bicycle, rentals,
carts
Supplies, taxes, electricity, wages,
maintenance+ manufactured
goods and raw materials
(Craftsmen, Wholesale dealers)
Taxes,
petroleum,
credit…
Guides, Travel agencies, Tour
operators
Taxes, petroleum, credit,
maintenance…
Accommodation, transport,
food, taxes, wages, electricity…
19
Lejarraga and Walkenhorst (2006)
67
The study of operating costs for all tourism stakeholders provides a coherent indicator in
order to understand where to intervene. For each of the operating costs, the likelihood to
impact the poor is different.
7.1. Total and local economic impact of tourism on the Ugandan economy
In-country visitor expenditures
The visitor survey conducted in early October 2011 shows that accommodation is the
main category of expenditures (44%), followed by souvenirs (16%), meals and drinks
(15%), transport (12%), excursions (8%) and others (7%). In the “others” category are
included the expenditure in casinos, spas and nightlife. The high proportion of business
travellers, along with several testimonies, emphasises the existence of sexual tourism in
Uganda.
On average, tourists spend $ 855 per person per trip. The categories with the main
average of expenditure per person per trip are both visitors on holiday and those visiting
friends and relatives ($ 1082). Volunteers spend less than all the other categories with
$ 711 per person per trip. The main spenders per day are however those visiting friends
and family ($ 155) and the business travellers ($ 146).
Table 37: In-country spending per person per day and per stay by purpose of visit
Purpose of travel
Business
Holiday
Expenditure
per person
per stay
$794
Expenditure
per person
per day
$ 146
$1082
$ 111
$1082
$711
$ 155
$ 87
$887
$855
$ 113
$ 132
VFR
Volunteer
Educational purpose (student)
Average
Average
length of Stay
5.4
9.8
7.0
8.2
7.9
6.5
The total amount of visitor expenditure in Uganda ($ 778 million) is equal to the average
level of expenditure per person per day ($ 132), multiplied by the average length of stay
(6.5) and the number of tourists for the year 2010 (910,714).
Figure 13: Economic impact of tourism by supply chain
Economic impacts of tourism on Uganda
US$ 778 millions
Accommodation
Restaurants
Souvenirs
Excursions
Transport
Others
US$ 343 m
US$ 115 m
US$ 115 m
US$ 62 m
US$ 91 m
US$ 5 m
(44%)
(15%)
(16%)
(8%)
(12%)
(7%)
including expenses for
local food products
US$ 35 m
(75%)
including local products
US$ 37 m
(39%)
68
The high number of business tourists plays an important role in either reducing or
increasing the overall size of some items in the distribution of expenditures. For example,
excursions are not gone on by business tourists and are therefore among the smallest
area of revenues in the value chain, at around $ 62 million per year.
Table 38: Distribution of expenditures by supply chain and purpose of visit
Business
Holiday
Visit friends & relatives
52%
52%
31%
Meals and
Drinks
15%
11%
12%
Volunteer
Educational purpose
Other
27%
29%
46%
18%
13%
26%
Accommodation
Transport
Excursion
Shopping
Other
8%
6%
21%
0%
21%
7%
19%
9%
14%
4%
1%
10%
22%
6%
12%
18%
6%
5%
14%
25%
5%
1%
5%
1%
It should be noted that 24% of all respondents underspent their budget during their time
in Uganda. The main reasons for this under spending in souvenirs were: lack of variety
(32% of respondents), time limitation (24%), low quality (20%), affordable prices (8 %),
did not shop (4 %), were not interested in souvenirs (4%), acted according to budget
(4 %) and were not available for shopping (4%).
18% of tourists overspent their budget during their time in Uganda. 23.8% of them
noticed that the prices for products were high, 19% were satisfied with the variety of
products, 14.3% spent more money on things such as tours and antiquities, 9.5% of
respondents enjoyed the process of shopping and being in Uganda, 4.7% acted according
to their budget, 4.7% had currency exchange problems, 4.7% were not satisfied with the
quality of products (while the same percentage of people were happy with it), 4.7% of
respondents saw the strong value of the dollar as their main reason for overspending and
4.7% of them tried to support poor people.
The remaining 58% of tourists spent within their budget. 33.3% of them acted according
to their budget, 33.3% enjoyed staying in Uganda and 33.3% were not interested in
spending more.
Local economic impact of in-country expenditures
 Local food products
The analysis shows that about $ 35 million are used for the purchase of local foods by the
accommodation and catering sectors. This represents 33% of economic return in Uganda.
On the other hand, the value of imported food products stood at $ 7.6 million or 25% of
the food consumed by accommodation and catering facilities, according to the interviews
conducted among 28 hotels and 20 restaurants all around the country in order to see,
through the breakdown of their operating costs, the local economic impact of these
expenditures.
Observing operating costs for tourism stakeholders enables us to understand how the
money spreads into the economy. “Salaries” is the first expenditures category for the
69
accommodation and restaurant sectors. Indeed, this category is usually where the propoor impact of tourism is likely to be the highest.
Table 39: Breakdown of operating costs for the accommodation and restaurant sector
Categories of operating
costs
Salaries and wages
Utilities (alec., water…)
Hygiene and cosmetics
Food costs
Beverages costs
Rent (loan)
Sales and marketing
Tel & Internet
Maintenance
Transport for goods
Souvenirs
Taxes, licenses
Other
Breakdown for
Accommodation
40%
4%
3%
9%
4%
2%
0%
1%
23%
2%
1%
1%
1%
Breakdown for
Restaurants
19%
4%
2%
14%
17%
17%
19%
2%
2%
1%
2%
A closer look into the origin of products, especially in the food sector, reveals that
approximately 55% of food products were sourced locally (within 20 km). Out of US$ 35
million spent by the hotel and restaurant sector on food products in 2010, US$ 19.2
million went to local communities. Despite a few exceptions, it seems that all businesses
follow the same trends which appear in their category (high-end, middle range, low-end).
The most important categories in terms of value are cereals, vegetables, meat, fruit and
fish. Their shares of food expenditures are as shown in the table below.
Table 40: Percentage of both cost of various food items in total food products and locally sourced products
(accommodation facilities)
Fish
Cereals
Vegetables
Fruit
Condiments
Processed
food and
juices
19.7%
20.8%
22.5%
14.3%
11.7%
8.4%
2.7%
76%
73%
71%
82%
91%
60%
45%
$1,428,183
$1,654,197
$1,975,963
$756,939
$317,081
$1,009,197
$435,290
Meat
Product’s share
of total food
costs
% of locally
sourced products
Value of imported
products
The main sources of leakages for local communities, which were also identified during the
fieldtrip, in terms of relative and absolute values, are respectively processed food and
juices (65% of imported products) and cereals ($ 1.9 million per year). These leakages
are mostly due to the non-existence of local production for these items. To explain the
percentage of locally sourced products for the other items, it refers either to the nonexistence of products at a local level (particularly in the northern region and more
generally due to a lack of access to water) or the lack of confidence in the quality of
products because of the use of chemical fertilisers in some districts.
70
Concerning the meat and fish categories, information concerning the provenance of these
items is limited. High-end businesses managers, who mostly claimed to buy these two
product categories in the main supermarkets of Kampala, were not sure about their real
provenance. Interviews with several supermarkets indicated that beef was solely bought
from a local firm called Top Cuts, which in turn said that they bought their animals from
farmers in different parts of Uganda. For pork, farmers said they directly supplied the
supermarkets on a daily basis (they supply caucuses using the JIT method). Chicken was
supplied by farmers from different parts of the country, though mainly from inside and
around Kampala. Fish was bought directly from the fish processing factories in and
around Kampala. They bought their fish from local people (fishermen and locals with
ponds).

Local handicraft products
The local share of the souvenir sector profit is 39%. Out of 25 souvenir wholesalers and
retailers, it appears that most of them have “wood carvings” and “clothing” as their main
purchases – products with a high rate of import. The value of basketry in the purchases of
souvenir sellers is the second lowest, which shows that all efforts to train communities in
this segment for the last 10 years were not particularly economically fruitful.
Table 41 : Handicraft and imported purchases level
Categories
Wood Carvings, sculptures
Clothing
Art (paintings)
Jewellery
Antiques
Textiles (silk, batik) & embroidery
Basketry, weaving
Copper / silver crafts
Fashion accessories – handbags and belts
Fashion accessories scarves
Local specialities & processed food
Music instruments
Total

% of imported
products
60%
55%
5%
82%
96%
91%
2%
100%
75%
96%
89%
1%
39%
% in purchases of
wholesalers/retailers
22.7%
17.2%
12.0%
10.4%
9%
7%
5.6%
5.1%
4.8%
3.5%
1.7%
0.9%
100%
Opportunities / Value
of imported products
$ 12,845,124
$ 8,921,129
$ 566,077
$ 8,032,070
$ 7,908,694
$ 6,214,439
$ 106,427
$ 4,791,177
$ 3,399,745
$ 3,168,103
$ 1,447,109
$ 8,869
$ 57,408,963
Local resources
In Uganda, the guides and transporters are mostly locals, however the vehicles and the
petrol are imported.
Eight out of fifteen interviewed tour operators were 100% locally owned. The others
were shared or foreign-owned.
7.2. Pro-poor impact of tourism on Uganda economy
The UNWTO (2004) has identified seven different ways in which spending associated
with tourism can reach the poor:
71
1. Employment of the poor in tourism enterprises;
2. Supply of goods and services in tourism enterprises by the poor or by
enterprises employing the poor;
3. Direct sales of goods and services to visitors by the poor (informal
economy);
4. Establishment and running of tourism enterprises by the poor (SMMEs or
CB enterprises);
5. Taxes or levies on tourism revenues or profits with proceeds benefiting the
poor;
6. Voluntary giving of resources (money, goods, time) by tourists and
enterprises in ways which benefit the poor;
7. Investment in infrastructures which provide livelihood benefits to the poor.
This report assesses how much of tourist expenditures reached the poor in 2010 and
attempts to see what insight this can bring to governments and donors to improve this as
part of a strategic intent to improve tourism yields. Some attention also needs to be given
to issues impacting those who are not getting benefits from the tourism sector. These
issues may include:
-
Inflation – price inflation for land and food are common negative impacts for local
people, and may price them out of their homes.
-
Social disturbances – crowds of (noisy / rude) tourists causing a disturbance, litter,
setting a bad example to the local young people with different cultural norms (e.g.
drinking, smoking, promiscuity etc.).
-
Overloading of the carrying capacity – this may impact both tourism assets as well
as infrastructure (roads, boats, planes, electricity supplies etc.).
Basically, the pro-poor impact of tourism can mostly be studied through the linkages
between the tourism stakeholders and the local producers, and by looking at pro-poor
employment. Concerning the latter, we proposed to apply an approach developed by
Conway for the IFC-MPDF (2007) to the total number of employees in the tourism sector.
It observes the poverty background of tourism workers while taking into account
qualitative and quantitative variables.
Figure 14: Conway's approach for calculating the poverty profile of tourism staff
1. Interviewees (tourism workers) who moved to the destination too long ago to have an accurate
recall of household income and / or so long ago that the income estimates would have to be
adjusted for inflation were removed from the list;
2. The reported income (household income = tourism worker + other household members) was
multiplied by 1.1 to obtain an estimate of household consumption. It was then possible to compare
estimated consumption to the poverty line, rather than compare income to a consumption poverty
line;
3. The results were divided by the number of people in the household to obtain an estimate of per
capita consumption;
4. This consumption estimate was compared to the international consumption poverty line (US$
1.25/person/day);
72
5. To the count of poor households were added those who report having suffered from food shortage
for the past year;
6. Any remaining cases for which we had neither a pc income estimate nor data on roof and wall
material were finally removed from the list;
7. The number of poor households was divided by the number of total households left after non-valid
households had been removed in steps (1) and (5) above.
All interviewed workers are split into two categories – poor and non-poor - and then we
look at the sum of incomes for each category in order to determine its share of the salary
bill. Doing so, we obtain a poverty profile by supply chain and a salary distribution by
supply chain and poverty profile (split of total tourism based wage incomes across
income groups). It is important to note that this methodology only represents the
Employee Pro-Poor Income Impact (EPII) of the tourist expenses or job-based income. In
order to obtain the full pro-poor impact, it is necessary to add the sales-based incomes by
poor local producers (tourism supplier pro-poor impact and direct seller pro-poor
impact). As we lacked the time needed in order to interview a representative sample of
local producers and farmers, we have used the average poverty rate of Uganda as a proxy
to calculate the indirect pro-poor impact of in-country spending.
7.2.1. Pro-poor impact in the accommodation sector
The pro-poor impact of accommodation is considered here as the sum of the employee
pro-poor income and the pro-poor linkages between the sector and the local producers.
We first observe the pro-poor employee income impact, which consists in evaluating the
poverty profile of the sector’s workers. The average level of salary is around $ 50 per
month for low skilled salaries in the accommodation sector. 86% of interviewees had
food as a benefit in addition to their salary. Respectively 30%, 28% and 24% had
accommodation, transport and medical care too.
Table 42: Breakdown of interviewed workers and average monthly salary
# of
interviews
18
14
15
4
41
2
3
Categories
Monthly Salary
UGX 143474
UGX 255357
UGX 132500
UGX 360000
UGX 147325
UGX 650000
UGX 383333
$51
$91
$47
$128
$53
$232
$137
7
Cleaning related services
Head of categories
Reception
Sales and marketing
Guest services
Travel consultant
Management
Administration
UGX 298333
$106
7
Transporters
UGX 186111
$66
We observe that among the interviewed tourism workers in the accommodation sector,
73% have a poor background. Since the number of interviews for each category was not
sufficient, it was impossible to study the poverty profile by category. Making the
assumption that low-skilled jobs should however be more pro-poor, and looking at the
average monthly salary for each category, we can assume that a major share of salaries is
likely to go to the non-poor.
73
Table 43: Poverty profile and salary distribution in the accommodation sector
Categories
Poor
Non-poor
Poverty profile in the
accommodation sector
73%
27%
Salary distribution in the
accommodation sector
69%
31%
Looking at the employee pro-poor income impact for the accommodation sector, we can
confirm that a majority of tourism workers are from a poor background. Concretely,
27.5% of tourist expenditures in accommodation outside of Kampala went to workers
from a poor background for the year 2010 (EPII-Employee Pro-poor Income Impact).
The second round of impact would then include the pro-poor impact of the tourism
stakeholders’ expenditures. For the accommodation sector, the linkages with the local
producers are especially true for the food component, towards which 9% of expenditures
go. If we simply apply the average poverty rate in Ugandan rural areas as a proxy data
(25.9%), then 1.7% of tourist expenditures in the accommodation sector would indirectly
reach poor local farmers. Therefore, using the international indicator of US$ 1.25 per
person per day as a poverty threshold, an approximate of the total pro-poor impact of
tourist expenditures in the accommodation sector (including the multiplier effect) is
29.1%.
7.2.2. Pro-poor impact in the souvenir sector
A similar approach can be conducted for all shares of tourist expenditures. However, the
evaluation of the pro-poor impact is more difficult for the souvenir sector. A majority of
souvenir stores are family-owned and the number of employees is therefore very low.
Knowing that tourists generally buy their souvenirs in Kampala (Exposure Africa,
National Theatre Market), the pro-poor impact of the souvenir sector is thus mostly on
the second round of expenditures when souvenir wholesalers and retailers purchase
items to local communities and producers. Outside of Kampala, tourists can either buy
their souvenirs at hotel shops or along the road. Considering that tourists mostly visit
national parks, we can decide to undertake an approach by region;
-
Northern region: there are no facilities for local communities to currently
display their souvenirs at Murchison Falls National Park. Some hotels offer
local crafts but a majority of items are imported from neighbouring countries.
The existing craft shops or street sellers are insignificant in terms business
activities. The local producers mostly depend on traders to buy and sell their
products.
-
Western region: Fort Portal represents an important hub for tourists visiting
Queen Elizabeth National Park and others. There are currently four souvenir
shops in town but local communities are not all linked with the tourism
market. Again, a majority of products, especially fabrics and sculptures are
imported, but few organisations encourage the production and sales of locally
made crafts. The Katunguru crafts area (with eight souvenir shops) is also a
major stop over for tourists around this national park.
74
-
Southern region: in Buhoma (Bwindi National Park) the village counts almost
fifteen souvenir shops, most of which display exactly the same crafts.
Therefore, average incomes per month struggle to reach 200,000 Uganda
shillings for each shop. In areas of Kabale and Lake Bunyonyi, village
communities have organised themselves into craft cluster producers but they
hardly have access to the hotels and resorts in their vicinity due to the lack of
networking opportunities with the owners and proprietors. Their products
also require a lot of product development, as they are rarely attractive to the
potential buyers.
-
Eastern region: Jinja town is the main conduit for souvenir sales in the region
because of the proximity to the source of the Nile and the much desired water
rafting and bungee along the Nile. Jinja has over 38 souvenir stalls along the
main street, 15 stalls at the source of the Nile and 5 at Bujagali with many
others spreading out along other streets in the town. The town being a major
stop over en-route to Sipi falls, Elgon National Park, Tororo Rock and Soroti
Hills in the further east, it becomes a focal point for souvenir sales. Much as
some of the products here are imported, youths and the elderly on site make a
good number of them, such as leather articles, beads, and tie/dye, as well as
pottery items locally.
-
Central region: this is where a majority of tourists purchase their souvenirs but
also where the poverty rate is the lowest (see section 5.5). However, tourists
on the western circuit usually stop en-route at the Equator stop over which has
about 14 souvenir shops, and at Kinoni Craft Centre which has just 2 stalls.
Basically, employees from the souvenir sector in secondary destinations are likely to
follow the same trends as those working in the accommodation sector. The rate should be
higher when including the street sellers. We will however keep the same rate for the
Employee Pro-Poor Income Impact (79%). An approximate of the total pro-poor impact
of tourist expenditures in the accommodation sector (including the multiplier effect) is
10.4 %.
7.2.3. Pro-poor impact of tourism in Uganda
The indicator chosen to evaluate the poverty profile of tourism workers was the
international poverty line of US$ 1.25 per person per day.
Table 44: Pro-poor Impact by supply chain
Categories
Accommodation
Restaurant
Shopping
Transportation
Excursion
Total
Employee
pro-poor Impact
27.4 %
13.1 %
2.1 %
8.1 %
5.2 %
15.5 %
Tourism supplier
pro-poor impact
19.3 %
24.9 %
10.1 %
2.5 %
Pro-poor Impact
29.1 %
16.5 %
10.4 %
17.9 %
75
The direct impact on poverty is 15.5 %, and rises to 17.9 % when its indirect impact is
taken into account - i.e. the second round of tourist expenditures within the local
economy. The method used in calculating the levels of poverty is absolute, in the sense
that it establishes a level of income per day per person, below which a person cannot
cover their basic needs.
8. Opportunities for pro-poor interventions
It is basically known where the traditional barriers to pro-poor tourism are, but there is a
need to prioritise interventions using the following criteria: the Pro-Poor Impact, the
level of feasibility and the level of Return On Investment (ROI).
Figure 15: Traditional barriers to PPT
Lack of tourist awareness about handicraft’s origin and inclusive tourism
Low quality, design and presentation to match international tourist demand
Lack of supply capacities from local producers
High level of imported products and raw materials, leakages and imperfect competition
Lack of linkages between producers and local selling points (hotels, information centres,
etc.)
Lack of market access (including road access) and access to finance
Non-registered individuals and businesses
The combination of the fieldwork study and the evidence brought by the quantitative
survey offers a clear situation analysis (see figure 6) which helps both draw a list of
potential interventions and of the impact that these interventions could have on local
communities.
The existence of several UN agencies (ITC, UNDP, UNCTAD) willing to work on the
sustainable development of the tourism sector in Uganda encourages us to propose a
holistic approach in which each Agency can benefit from and complement the work of the
other.
The main identified axis for tourism and tourism-related interventions are:
 Communication and Marketing Plan:
o Improve available information inside and outside the country
o Improve tourism marketing and promotion strategies
76


Branding and visibility
Public-private partnerships
 Products and services competitiveness (linkages of poor communities to
tourism)
o Improve quality and quantity of tourism and tourism-related services
and products
o Encourage market-oriented tourism business development:
 Capacity building and training (including peer to peer training)
 Responsible tourism product development and diversification,
reinforcement of tourism value chain linkages and clusters
development
 Tourism Management:
o Improve tourism sector destination planning, development and
management:
 Encourage a decentralisation process for both the private and
public sectors
 Improve data collection systems
 Improve the tourism sector’s regulation and standardisation
 Capacity building at all levels of government (central, regional,
district)
 Infrastructure development
 Improve destination attractiveness for investors (incentives to
private sector)
8.1. Sustainable Tourism Sector Development
To increase the pro-poor impact of tourism, the first level of intervention aims to ensure
the sustainability of the sector at the three levels (economic, social and environmental). It
is expected that interventions will encourage more tourists to visit Uganda and especially
to participate in community-based activities. In-country and external communication
strategies are key factors to differentiate Uganda from its neighbouring countries. To
differentiate one destination from another it is necessary to develop a comparative
advantage. However, price competitiveness, and therefore the certainty that tourists get a
good value for their money, is critical.
77
Figure 16: Priorities for an inclusive tourism development in Uganda
Communication and Marketing
Access to reliable
statistics and
information for
foreign investors
Access to reliable
information for
visitors(inside and
outside Uganda)
Products and Services
Competitiveness
Regulation of tourism
and tourism related
activities
Addressing quality
insurance
Standardisation
Image / branding of
Uganda and its
assets
Human resources
and tourism products
development
Management and Planning
Tourism attractiveness
for both tourists and
private sector
(incentives, cultural
mgt.)
Human resources
development &
Decentralisation
Acknowledgment of
tourism as a main
source of local economic
development
To both reach a high level of satisfaction and improve the number of international
leisure visitors to Uganda, the government needs to acknowledge the economic
importance of tourism towards massive investments in tourism and tourism-related
infrastructures. There is a need to accelerate the decentralisation process by giving
local authorities more capacities to respond to immediate needs. The building of
capacities of tourism and tourism-related government officials at both local and
national levels is a prerequisite to the decentralisation process.
Other axes of intervention - in which the government needs to be particularly active
and involved - concern the improvement of tourism products and services
competitiveness. The lack of regulation mechanisms added to the absence of a
standardisation system are both harmful to a sustainable development of tourism in
Uganda. There is additionally a need to build the capacities of local human resources
in order to reach international standards for most tourism businesses operating in
Uganda.
Both inside and outside of Uganda, the access to valuable information is limited.
Reliable information is essential for tourists when preparing their trip and for
investors when evaluating the investment opportunities and their possible financial
return.
A non-exhaustive list of interventions is offered in the table below, including the
possible outputs and impacts for each intervention individually.
78
Table 45: Pre-identified interventions for sustainable tourism sector development
Themes
Outcomes
Improved access to
information for
visitors, traders and
investors
Location
Context and Rationale
Kampala /
Uganda
- Weak in-country and
external access to
information for tourists,
traders and investors
- Lack of available
information on prices and
activities
Communication
and marketing
Improved and
increased image of
Uganda
internationally
Increased number
and quality of
leisure activities
Kampala /
Uganda
Bunyoni,
Kamonjora,
etc.
Tourism
products and
services
competitiveness
Uganda has not yet been able
to differentiate its assets
from neighbouring countries
Development of
stop-over areas
- Development of a website including a classification of tourism
businesses and rates by location (identify and select a reliable
web hosting service)
- UTB reinforcement of capacities: training on marketing /
information systems / website management
- Assist UTB in collecting information on prices / services and
activities all around Uganda
Brand Uganda - Marketing of destination’s unique assets (birds,
communities: beyond wildlife)
Impacts
Improvement of visitor
satisfaction
Increase of arrivals
Increase of investments
- Workshop with TO and use of VCA results (tourist survey)
A new image of Uganda is
created
Uganda has unique, nonexploited products and
comparative advantages
(birds, the Nile, etc.)
- Survey among domestic tourists (identify expectations of
domestic tourists)
Increase of arrivals
Lack of activities outside
game viewing
Develop and organise new activities for tourists (trekking,
mountain biking, hot springs, CBT, etc.)
Low involvement of local
communities in tourism
economics
- Training of guides
Increased number of activities
- Capacity building of local communities / access to credit &
market
Increased number of tourism
beneficiaries
- Support strategies to bring tourists to the products (improve
linkages between CBT’s activities and tour operators)
Increase visitor satisfaction
Non-commercially and
sustainably exploited natural
and cultural resources
Kafu,
Equator
point
(Kikorongo)
Outputs
Increase of investments
– Possibility to organise a national competition to brand Uganda
(and therefore to encourage locals to discover their country)
Absence of “Western
standard” stop-over areas
and long road trips between
destinations
Improve in-country travelling experience
Low quality of products and
services
- New stop-over areas offering clean toilets, food and crafts
Quality improvement
Diversify and improve the quality of food products available at
stop-over areas
Product development and
income generation
- Create linkages with local communities and producers
Poverty reduction
Training of trainers in the accommodation and catering sectors
Themes
Outcomes
Regulation and
standardisation of
the tourism sector
Location
Context and Rationale
Low level of services for the
middle range and low-end
tourism stakeholders
Uganda
Issues with pricing and
costing
Low benefits and salaries for
local staff
Tourism
management
and planning
Decentralisation of
tourism
management for
both public and
private sectors
Increased
destination
attractiveness for
investors
Lack of responsiveness to
local tourism issues by
national government
Uganda
Uganda
Lack of collaboration at local
level to market the
secondary destinations
accordingly
Heavy taxes and
administrative processes for
middle range and low-end
foreign-owned businesses
Dynamism and experience
brought by foreign
individuals in the middlerange and low-end segments
Outputs
Support UTB in the finalisation of the tourism sector census (n° of
actors, n° of tourism employees, etc.) to communicate on the
importance of tourism for the national economy
Support UTB in the finalisation of the implementation of a
standardisation system (three levels: quality insurance team of
inspectors, grading, capacities of local authorities)
Assist in transferring decision-making process at regional level
Capacities building of local/regional administration and
associations
Incentives to private sector (not staff – only owners)
Assist in products development in secondary destinations
Improve access to secondary destinations
Impacts
Quality improvement
Better working environment
and benefits for local
population
Increased visitor satisfaction
Better management of tourist
sites
Faster
responses/reactions/solutions
to local issues
Growing supply and choices in
the middle range and low-end
segments, resulting in better
services through competition
Increase number of visitors in
secondary destinations
Increased local economic
impact
80
8.2. Sustainable tourism-related sectors development
To ensure a sustainable development of tourism in Uganda, as anywhere else, the
improvement and management of local tourism-related sectors’ products and services
helps to provide local communities with alternative sources of income, and therefore to
improve living standards and to decrease the risks of harassment towards international
visitors.
The opportunities for inter-sectorial linkages between tourism-related sectors and
tourism can be simplified into the same three layer approach (see figure below). Basically,
there is a need to strengthen the local capacities to offer and market adequate products
and services to the domestic and international markets:
1. Improve supply quantity, quality and consistency, and enhance linkages
between farmers producing fresh fruits & vegetables and processed food
(including organic) with tourism businesses
2. Increase supply capacity of local crafts, visual arts and entertainment in terms of
quantity, quality, product variety and timeliness for the tourism market.
Figure 17: Priorities for a sustainable tourism-related sector development
Communication and Marketing
(Market Placement & Sales Opportunities)
Consumer
Awareness on
inclusive tourism
Products and services competitiveness
(Design Support, Innovation & Brand Creation)
Human resources
development
Access to local
products for both
tourists and
traders /tourism
businesses
Addressing quality
insurance
Standardisation
Products
development
Management & Business
Development
Awareness of
the
environment &
biodiversity
standards
Understanding
of products
identification
mechanisms
Finance,
Management
and sales
competencies
Regulation of
the crafts sector
Interventions are expected to happen at each level of both the supply chain and the
production process. Inside the production process, the training of capacities to reach
international standards is essential to fulfil a growing demand. This consists in training
and accompanying local communities in all of the steps of the production process, which
implies a strong understanding of the environmental impact of their activities and the
respect of Uganda’s biodiversity.
Figure 18: Different steps of the production process
Conception &
design
Production
Quality control
Marketing and
distribution
channels
Purchase and
customer
reception
Impact
As an example, research has shown that community projects mostly concentrate their
efforts on a limited group of handmade products, with basket weaving as the main
category. However, the results from the study indicate that other opportunities exist in
the crafts sector.
Figure 19: Simplified value chain steps for the crafts sector
Analysis of visitors
expenditure
Analysis
wholesalers/retailers
expenditure (operating
costs)
Analysis of local
producers production
process and operating
costs
• Share of expenditure in souvenirs
• Amount and percentage of under spending by tourists
• Categories of products visitors would have bought if available
• Share of souvenirs in their operating costs
• Products’ purchase breakdown by category
• Provenance of raw materials
• Evaluation of local capacities (business management, products
quality, sustainability, etc.)
• Looking at opportunities (new products, products
improvement, packaging, etc.)
In fact, it was observed that 24% of all respondents underspent their budget during their
time spent in Uganda. The average level of underspent money varies from one category to
another, with regional traders ready to spend the most per head. The business market, as
the main source of visitors, represents a real opportunity for Uganda with two main
categories: the business conference market and the regional traders. The first one is more
interested in local/African products while the second one is rather looking for innovative
products with a Western design/appearance.
82
Table 46: Average amount of underspending by purpose of visit
Categories
% “Underspend”
Western business visitors
Regional traders
Holiday
Visit Friends & Relatives (VFR)
Volunteer
Educational purpose (student)
Other
17.3%
24.4%
21.8%
10.3%
9.0%
7.1%
9.0%
How much they
were ready to
spend
$178
$176
$83
$113
$110
$142
$150
Market size
(ITC visitor
statistics)
$4,940,855
$12,124,586
$2,797,990
$2,542,345
$2,031,310
$666,095
$1,779,611
Market size
(UBOS visitor
statistics)
$9,437,562
$2,651,488
$9,701,588
$3,112,806
Two main markets stand out in this analysis: the business and the VFR markets. The
amount of underspending for these markets varies with the choice of breakdown for the
categories of visitors. Definitively, the business market, especially the regional traders,
represents real opportunities for the local market. In average, business travellers were
ready to spend an additional $ 177 per head in Uganda (representing between $ 9 and
$ 17 million per year).
Knowing that visitors mostly underspend because of a lack of variety, we have studied the
sort of souvenirs they expected to find and the amount of money they would have been
ready to spend for these items. These data were then crossed with the share of
expenditure for each product’s category for the wholesalers. The percentage of imported
products within each category gave us a clear understanding of the existing products and
financial opportunities.
Table 47: Opportunities in the crafts sector
What sort of souvenirs/crafts did you
expect to find?
Wood carvings, sculptures
Jewellery
Clothing
Basketry, weaving
Music instruments
Antiques
Bark clothes
Copper / silver crafts
Local specialities & processed food
Art (paintings)
Pottery
Handbags and belts
Other
34
24
22
16
14
9
9
8
8
6
6
6
5
Fashion accessories/scarves
Textiles (silk, batik) & embroidery
4
3
Average share of
expenditure for
souvenir
wholesalers
22.70%
10.40%
17.20%
5.60%
0.90%
9%
5.10%
1.70%
12.00%
4.80%
3.50%
7%
$ 21,408,540
$ 9,795,208
$ 16,220,234
$ 5,321,340
$ 886,890
$ 8,238,223
Sales value of
imported crafts
products per
year
$ 12,845,124
$ 8,032,070
$ 8,921,129
$ 106,427
$ 8,869
$ 7,908,694
$ 4,791,177
$ 1,625,965
$ 11,321,535
$ 4,791,177
$ 1,447,109
$ 566,077
$ 4,532,994
$ 3,399,745
$ 3,300,107
$ 6,829,053
$ 3,168,103
$ 6,214,439
Value of
souvenirs sales
per year
The results shown in the above table emphasise the necessity to look at other products
than those (e.g. basketry) usually supported by NGOs and produced in most Ugandan
communities over the last ten years. On the one hand, tourists are looking for other types
83
of products (wood carvings, jewellery, clothing), and on the other hand, the products that
visitors expected to find are also those with the highest economic opportunities. The next
step is therefore to validate these results with the support of all tourism stakeholders in
order to ensure the feasibility of the interventions described below (table 51);
interventions that would aim at increasing the local production of these items.
A similar approach can be developed for the food sector, especially for the processed food
category. It appears that the majority of hotels and restaurants have indicated that the
products within this category were mostly imported (see below).
Table 48: Percentage of locally purchased products and volume of imports
% local
meat
% local
fish
% local
cereals
95%
90%
100%
% local
fresh
vegetables
and tubers
83%
95%
100%
100%
$51 - $100
68%
48%
$101 - $250
55%
> $251
Hotel
categories
Less
than
$20
$21 - $50
Total
Sector size
Import or
opportunities
% local
fresh fruits
% local
fresh
condiments
83%
77%
% local
processed
food and
juices
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
71%
80%
100%
62%
48%
23%
8%
80%
52%
70%
35%
74%
61%
66%
78%
77%
21%
30%
76%
73%
71%
82%
91%
60%
45%
$ 5,617,188
$ 5,912,431
$ 6,407,359
$ 4,068,440
$ 3,321,624
$ 2,395,430
$ 755,447
$ 1,361,933
$ 1,577,463
$ 1,884,303
$ 721,826
$ 302,372
$ 962,383
$ 415,098
Evidence from the fieldwork has shown that jam, honey and fruit juices are mostly
imported while the ingredients exist locally. The amount of imported products for the
entire processed food categories reached $ 415,098 in 2010, offering spectacular
opportunities for the vulnerable communities. Other opportunities need to be studied
conjointly with the private sectors. Not all regions lack local products (meat, fish, etc.).
A similar reasoning can be made for all promising interventions. Below is a nonexhaustive list of potential interventions for the development of tourism-related sectors.
84
Table 49: Pre-identified interventions for the sustainable development of tourism-related sectors
Themes
Outcomes
Raised consumer
awareness on impact of
purchases and spending
Communication
and marketing
(market
placement and
sales
opportunities)
Increased number of
linkages between
tourism and tourismrelated stakeholders
Increased share of
Ugandan souvenirs in
visitors’ expenditure
Tourism
products and
services
competitiveness
Increased linkages
between tourism and
tourism-related
stakeholders
Location
Context and Rationale
Outputs
Impacts
Lack of knowledge about
purchase impact and
product origin by tourists
Raising awareness activities towards tourists (international
and domestic)
Improvement of visitor
satisfaction
Branding Ugandan products
High % of imported products
Access to market for local communities (linkages)
Increased local
economic impact
Weak linkages between
tourism stakeholders and
local producers
Low level of local production
for some categories of
products
Creation of MOUs between local producers and tourism
stakeholders
Marketing local cuisine
Capacity building for local producers (understanding the
tourism life cycle, quality and other requirements)
Murchison
Fall NP,
Kikorongo,
Kampala
Lack of opportunities to
display local products to
tourists / low market access
High amount of imported
crafts in markets and
souvenir shops
New and suitable infrastructures and channels for selling
crafts:
- Create a boutique at the ferry (Murchison Fall NP)
- Duplicate a similar concept as Igongo Cultural Centre at
both the Equator point (Kikorongo) and Kafu (on the way to
MFNP from Kampala)
– Public/private sector partnerships
- Support Exposure Africa in the settlement of a crafts hub
(warehouse) in Kampala
Uganda.
Lack of skills and capacities
(innovation, empowerment)
Low involvement of local
communities in tourism
economics
Low quality of products and
services
Lack of financial and
technical means
Existence of local raw
materials
Training of trainers (design and innovation)
Refreshment of/Innovation in « original » Ugandan crafts,
using local crafting capacities – masks, basketry, paper
beads
Support to National Competition on crafts, visual arts,
cuisine and entertainment with the final objective to
identify and evaluate both the needs and the capacities of
local communities
Support and development of the Katwe community
(packaging, shower, etc.)
Uganda
Uganda
Poverty reduction
Increased local
economic impact
Poverty alleviation
Increased visibility and
sales of local products
Increased local
economic impact and
poverty reduction
Enhanced
competitiveness
Increased number of
activities/products
Increased number of
tourism beneficiaries
Product improvement
Improvement of health
and working
conditions
Themes
Tourism
products and
services
competitiveness
Outcomes
Decreased impact of
locally produced items on
the environment
Location
Context and Rationale
Non-commercially and
sustainably exploited natural
and cultural resources
Uganda
ITC knowledge in ethical
fashion
Growing international
demand for ethical products
Low level of services for the
middle range and low-end
tourism-related
stakeholders
Improved ability for
product identification
and development
Uganda
Low level of linkages
Issues with pricing and
costing
Low diversity of souvenirs
Management
and business
development
Low benefits and salaries for
local staff
Decreased impact of
human activities on
biodiversity
Uganda
Outputs
Impacts
Creation of innovative environmental/ethical/pro-poor
labels and packaging
- Capacity building (innovation, products development,
business development, peer to peer training for the use of
natural raw materials and dyes such as the Nyabwina
Women Group in Fort Portal)
- Assist in strategies to bring the products to the tourists
Quality improvement
Product development
and income generation
Poverty reduction
- Develop pro-poor and ethical packaging with local
material (elephant paper) for various items including
souvenirs and processed food (honey, jam, salt)
Create linkages with tours and markets
Develop a catalogue of souvenirs and items for the business
tourism sector (corporate and business gifts): market size:
171,500 business tourists in 2009.
Develop agricultural products at local level (chicken farms,
fish ponds, organic vegetables, processed food: jam, honey,
salt)
Develop handmade products (masks, ethical fashion
products such as bags, recycled items, etc.)
Enhanced backward
linkages of the tourism
sector to local clean
and organic agriculture
producers & silk craft
producers
Quality improvement
Better working
environment and
benefits for local
population
Increased visitor
satisfaction
High incidence of poaching
activities
Education about the central role of biodiversity in
sustainability
Plans for oil extraction in
Albert Rift region
- Assist the UWA and government in raising awareness
activities on the central role of biodiversity.
Major role of biodiversity in
sustainable development
- Support local communities in identifying opportunities
and writing project proposals for fund raising (from 20% of
park entrance fees)
Better management of
tourist sites and
preservation of
biodiversity
Better use of tourism
rent and improvement
of livelihoods
86
Themes
Management
and business
development
Outcomes
Tourism-related sectors
become regulated and
standardised
Location
Uganda
Context and Rationale
Low level of tax collection
from tourism
development/businesses
Better tourism management
in return of an increase in
taxes
Outputs
Legalisation and registration of SMEs
- Finance, management and sales training
- Assistance to registration
- Clusters creation and reinforcement
Impacts
Better access to credit
for registered
companies or
individuals
Increase of tourism
receipts
87
8.3. Holistic approach within a sustainable partnership for interventions
Three UN agencies, the International Trade Centre (ITC), the spell out (UNCTAD) and the
spell out (UNDP) agreed to share experience and knowledge for a sustainable tourism
development in Uganda.
Figure 20: UN agencies partnership
ITC
"Inclusive Tourism"
UNCTAD
"Train for Trade"
UNDP
"Support for
Development of
Inclusive Markets
in Tourism"
The areas of intervention for each agency will depend on several criteria. To simplify how
these agencies will collaborate, a simple framework was presented to a representative
from the Ministry of Tourism during an SCTD meeting held in Geneva in October 2011.
The Ministry of Tourism is particularly focused on the development of incubation centres
in Uganda.
-
-
Among others, UNDP could support the Ministry of Tourism in formulating a
business plan, promotion strategies or in creating incentives to attract private
investors;
UNCTAD could build the capacities of government(al) officials at national and
local levels to facilitate the development of public-private partnerships;
ITC could support local communities in providing high-standard crafts
products to the incubation centre.
The validation workshop will help to agree on how each agency is going to support the
development of inclusive markets in tourism.
8.4. Summary of ITC interventions
Among all interventions highlighted above, some are particularly relevant to the ITC’s
mandate (especially in the tourism-related sector interventions). Below we describe the
different areas where the ITC is likely to intervene within the ITC logical framework.
Table 50: ITC logical framework
Intervention logic
Indicators
Impact:
1. Increase the income of current
producers and vulnerable local
communities
2. Enhanced competitiveness and
world market integration by
sustainable development
Outcome 1: Enhance skills, production
and sales mechanisms
Means of verification
1.1 Increased sales of locally
produced crafts
1.2 Exports of craft products
1.3 Increase in productivity and
resource efficiency
1.4 Increase in jobs and
incomes of rural producers
generated from the sales of
crafts
1.5 Enhance
biodiversity
conservation
Increased value
produced crafts
Increased
products
of
access
to





locally
local
Assumptions
Independent midterm/final programme
evaluation
Annual reports
Case studies
Survey and feedback
data
Statistical information
(UN, WB etc.)
 Continued
growth of
tourist arrivals
 Support from
private and
public
stakeholders
- Customer satisfaction
survey
- Amount of products
bought by high-end
shops in Kampala
- The project
follows a
holistic
approach
- Sustainable
practices and
better
environmental
management
Quantity and value of craft
items sold to tourists through
different channels
Output 1.1: Product development and
diversification from raw materials to
packaging (including pricing and
costing): jams, honey, salt
Output 1.2: Upgrading quality and
production of (selected) commercially
viable products (ex: peer to peer
training for the replacement of imported
raw materials and learning on natural
dyes)
Output 1.3: Training on sustainability
and business development (including
business plans) for women association
groups and community based projects
Output 1.4: Assistance to registration
and fund raising (incl. project proposal
writing)
Output 1.5: Assistance in setting up
(spaces/)areas to sell food, processed
food and souvenirs
Outcome
linkages
2:
Enhance
backward
Minimum rate of local products
and/or content in souvenir
shops.
-
Sector value
analysis
chain
Cooperative
private sector
Decrease in leakages
89
Output 2.1: Capacity building to
increase production and to better
respond to the needs of sellers/market
Output 2.2: Develop a corporate and
business pro-poor product catalogue
(folders, bags, etc.) for the business
tourism sector in Kampala
Output 2.3: Support a national
competition on crafts, visual arts,
entertainment and cuisine (Ketwu
Festival)
Output 2.4: Agreements are signed
between the private sector and local
producers
Conclusion
As noted earlier in this document, this opportunity study was originally designed to
identify suitable project interventions through which ITC’s technical expertise could
make a pro-poor impact within a project timeframe of three to five years. The
involvement of two other UN agencies (UNDP and UNCTAD), both in favour of a
sustainable development of the tourism sector in Uganda, has encouraged ITC to broaden
the scope of the opportunity study, which initially only focused on enabling artisans that
work as micro producers along with Ugandan artists to reach tourists.
The study included both qualitative and quantitative methodologies looking at the flow of
visitor expenditures into the local economy, how it benefits local communities and where
opportunities exist to increase these benefits exponentially. Amongst the main
conclusions from this study, we have observed the need for a strong leadership to be
taken by the Ministry of Tourism, but also for the Government of Uganda to acknowledge
the role that tourism can play in improving peoples’ livelihoods. It is subsequently
essential that the Ministry of Tourism takes conjointly with the development agencies the
lead in identifying the priorities for the tourism sector.
For the Ministry of Tourism to take the lead role in sustainable tourism development in
Uganda, it is perceived as essential that capacities be built at all stages of the intervention
and management processes. An improvement of tourism benefits towards local
communities also means a proper engagement of both local communities and tourism
businesses in working for each other. Although the study has identified a number of risk
factors regarding the projects’ success (see SWOT analysis), a number of strategies exist
in order to avoid any kind of impediment. Among others, peer to peer education
strategies are a sensible one. However, it is absolutely necessary to readdress the stream
of priorities using evidence drawn from the research. Interventions must follow a
90
strategic approach paying a particular attention to market segments, substitution to
importation, existing capacities, etc.
The next step following the distribution of this report is to undertake a validation
workshop aiming at defining strategic interventions for the tourism industry to better
benefit local communities. A long list of evidence-based objectives and interventions will
be presented to all tourism stakeholders (government: national and local, private sector,
international organisations, local communities, etc.) to determine their costs, feasibility,
impact and return on investment.
It is then recommended that each stakeholder involved voluntarily or not in either a
project or an intervention ensures to participate in a direction that corresponds
simultaneously to the government’s and the project’s objectives.
91
ANNEXES
ANNEX 1: Additional tables
Table 51: Main attracting factors by region
Western Region
Eastern Region
Northern Region
Central Region
Southern Region
Wildlife
Local
communities
Local
crafts
Local
entertainment
Other
Most attractive
14
0
0
0
0
Second most attractive
0
11
1
1
0
Most attractive
6
2
0
0
0
Second most attractive
0
5
0
1
0
Most attractive
9
1
0
0
0
Second most attractive
0
7
1
2
0
Most attractive
4
2
1
1
1
Second most attractive
0
4
1
2
0
Most attractive
9
1
1
0
0
Second most attractive
1
7
0
0
1
Table 52: Weaknesses and strengths of each Ugandan region
Regions
Western
Cost / value for money
Destination appeal
Existing products appeal
Availability
Range of existing activities
Hotels and services
Geographical location
Means of transportation
Wildlife
Authentic way of life
Scenery
Adventure tourism
Online bookings
Total
Eastern
Northern
Central
Southern
Weakness
Strength
Weakness
Strength
Weakness
Strength
Weakness
Strength
Weakness
Strength
20%
0%
0%
0%
0%
13%
13%
20%
0%
20%
20%
0%
7%
9%
40%
67%
53%
47%
53%
40%
40%
33%
67%
33%
33%
60%
67%
49%
27%
7%
20%
7%
33%
20%
20%
20%
20%
7%
7%
7%
13%
16%
27%
40%
20%
33%
27%
27%
33%
33%
20%
40%
47%
53%
13%
32%
40%
7%
13%
0%
7%
27%
20%
40%
0%
13%
13%
20%
7%
16%
27%
60%
47%
27%
47%
33%
40%
27%
67%
33%
40%
27%
27%
38%
13%
0%
7%
0%
20%
7%
0%
13%
40%
7%
27%
20%
0%
12%
40%
40%
40%
13%
27%
40%
40%
40%
13%
33%
33%
20%
33%
32%
33%
0%
7%
0%
13%
40%
13%
33%
7%
20%
0%
7%
7%
14%
27%
60%
47%
20%
40%
20%
33%
20%
53%
27%
53%
33%
27%
35%
92
Table 53: Categories of hotels and restaurants where international tourists stay
Categories of
accommodation
Less than $20
$21 - $50
$51 - $100
$101-$250
> $251
Do not know
18%
23%
19%
21%
11%
8%
Categories of
restaurants
Less than $5
$5 - $10
$10 - $20
> $20
Do not know
18%
31%
30%
14%
7%
Table 54: Suggestions from tour operators to encourage tourism benefits for local communities
Western
Region
Eastern
Region
Northern
Region
Central
Region
Southern
Region
7
5
3
2
5
2
1
1
1
0
4
1
0
0
6
4
3
4
5
2
2
5
0
0
3
0
0
0
5
1
2
8
4
0
2
2
3
1
1
0
0
0
6
5
4
3
4
0
2
2
2
0
4
1
0
0
6
2
3
3
3
2
3
3
1
1
3
0
0
0
Information dissemination and marketing
Tour product development
Branding strategy
Increase safety and security
Provide and stimulate infrastructure development
Increase spending opportunities
Improve product quality
Improve services quality
Encourage awareness by the community of natural & cultural assets
Enhance management and stewardship of natural resources
Skills enhancement (guides training, languages,…)
Building capacities of local communities
Foster empowerment
Other suggestions:
Table 55: Main reasons and specific purposes to visit Uganda
Main reasons for visiting Uganda
Specific purpose
Round Trip
Festivals
Family visit
Honeymoon
Spiritual holiday
Local communities
Spa/wellness
Cultural holiday
Game viewing
Eco-tourism holiday
Study/Internship/Volunteer work
Gorillas
Adventure
Bird watching
Others
Total
Business
Holiday
Educational
purpose
(student)
Visiting
Friend or
Relatives
Volunteer
Other
Total
4
0
1
1
4
1
0
0
2
0
1
0
0
0
2
16
7
1
6
2
0
2
0
4
4
2
4
8
1
1
2
44
3
1
20
0
3
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
1
2
1
34
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
3
0
7
0
0
0
2
13
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
7
0
0
0
0
10
4
0
1
0
0
2
0
0
1
0
1
2
1
2
5
19
21
2
28
5
8
6
0
4
13
2
20
10
3
5
13
93
Table 56: Mean age by category
Male
Female
Business
Holiday
VFR
Volunteer
Educational
purpose
(student)
41.5
38.0
41.8
37.4
34.4
32.7
35.3
33.1
29.2
28.2
Other
45.3
46.5
Table 57: Average expenditure for accommodation per night by country of residence
UNITED KINGDOM
EUROPE
AMERICA
ASIA-PACIFIC
MIDDLE EAST
OTHER AFRICA
CONGO
KENYA
RWANDA
SUDAN
TANZANIA
Less
than $20
$21 - $50
$51 - $100
$101-$250
> $251
Do not
know
0%
9%
11%
14%
67%
33%
43%
16%
35%
13%
33%
19%
0%
15%
14%
0%
50%
57%
31%
18%
38%
50%
19%
34%
25%
14%
0%
0%
0%
17%
18%
13%
0%
31%
31%
21%
43%
33%
0%
0%
20%
18%
13%
11%
19%
9%
11%
14%
0%
17%
0%
14%
12%
0%
6%
13%
17%
17%
0%
0%
0%
0%
2%
0%
25%
0%
94
ANNEX 2: Visitor arrivals by country of usual residence (2005 – 2009)
95
ANNEX 3: Objectives, strategies and interventions objective for the tourism
sector - National Development Plan (2010-2014)
Objective 1 - Develop and review the policy and the legal and regulatory framework
for the sector
Strategy 1: Review the tourism policies and plans
Intervention Description
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
Review the Tourism Policy.
Review the Tourism Master Plan.
Review the Uganda Wildlife Policy.
Formulate a Museums and Monuments Policy.
Strategy 2: Update relevant legal and regulatory framework
Intervention Description
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
vi)
vii)
Review the National Wildlife Act.
Enact the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) Act.
Review the Museums and Monuments Act.
Develop and implement the wildlife sub-sector regulations (fire arms, sport hunting, farming,
ranching, ecotourism, scientific and educational use and extractive utilisation) for the
protected areas.
Domesticate CITES.
Review Uganda Wildlife Training Institute (UWTI) Act.
Review Hotel and Tourism Training Institute (HTTI) Act.
Objective 2 - Increase the contribution of tourism to GDP and employment.
Strategy 1: Operationalise the Tourism Development Levy and Fund.
Intervention Description
i)
ii)
Develop and disseminate guidelines for the collection of the levy.
Establish structures and mechanisms for levy collection. iii) Develop and make operational a
framework for the Tourism Development Fund.
Strategy 2: Develop marketing tools packaging Uganda as the preferred tourism
destination
.
Intervention Description
i)
ii)
Review the National Tourism Marketing Strategy.
Enhance marketing tools.
Strategy 3: Develop and implement the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and
Events (MICE) strategy
Intervention Description
96
i) Establish a functional MICE bureau/centre.
ii) Develop a MICE marketing strategy.
iii) Build capacity of the MICE industry through training and market support.
Strategy 4: Strengthen the tourism and wildlife information system, including the
development of the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA)
Intervention Description
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
vi)
Develop a tourism management information system.
Develop the Uganda Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA).
Undertake international niche market surveys and other data collection activities.
Strengthen the animal wildlife database.
Develop and implement guidelines on wildlife trade and enterprises.
Strengthen the museums, monuments and antiquities database.
Strategy 5: Secure international and domestic source markets for tourism
Intervention Description
i)
ii)
Strengthen presence in existing tourism source markets.
Identify and nurture new tourism segments.
Strategy 6: Diversify tourism products.
Intervention Description
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
vi)
vii)
Implement four (4) zonal tourism plans and produce zonal plans for four (4) other ecological
zones.
Habituate and avail new gorilla, chimpanzee and monkey groups for tourism.
Re-introduce chimpanzees and rhinos into wildlife.
Develop the souvenir, arts and crafts industry through the support of arts and crafts groups
with necessary equipment and training.
Develop cultural centres through provision of concept and infrastructure support to cultural
groups and companies.
Develop water based tourism resources through provision of concept and infrastructure
support to water based tourism resources.
Promote other new tourism products such as butterfly viewing, caving, bird watching, canopy
walk and wilderness camping.
Strategy 7: Regulate tourism products development
Intervention Description
i) Develop and implement quality inspection and licensing framework.
ii) Undertake the monitoring and evaluation of the sector’s activities.
iii) Monitor and regulate tourism in mining, hydropower, oil and gas, and wildlife conservation
areas.
Strategy 8: Support development of tourism enterprises
Intervention Description
i)
ii)
Research and package new tourism enterprise opportunities.
Enhance capacity of tourism sector SMEs, including putting into place a seed capitalisation
fund and information centres for SMEs in tourism.
97
iii) Support community based tourism enterprises around wildlife protected areas.
Strategy 9: Develop tourism human resources
Intervention Description
i)
Review the tourism and wildlife manpower training curricula, including upgrading the quality
of the tourism and wildlife training tools.
ii) Enhance capacity of tourism and wildlife tertiary institutions through staff in-service training
in areas of tourism development, wildlife, museums, culture, arts and craft enterprises.
iii) Strengthen the Uganda Hotel and Tourism Training Institute.
Strategy 10: Develop tourism support infrastructure
Intervention Description
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
vi)
vii)
viii)
ix)
x)
xi)
xii)
xiii)
xiv)
xv)
xvi)
Develop and implement a framework to facilitate development of convenient tourist stopovers along major highways and tourist circuits.
Construct a tourism house to accommodate tourism sector institutions.
Identify and develop critical transport networks leading to protected areas and other tourist
sites.
Construct ranger out posts in Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP), Murchison Falls National
Park (MFCA), Bwindi and Mugahinga Conservation Area (BMCA) and Rwenzori National Park
(RNP).
Upgrade/renovate campsites, signage, information/interpretation centres, gates, walk ways
and game viewing tracks in key wildlife areas.
Construct/Build Museums at Kabale and Hoima and finalise plans for Soroti and Jinja, and
support renovation of key cultural and religious sites.
Re-design and develop the Jinja source of the Nile tourist site.
Procure and title prime land to support construction of tourist accommodation facilities, and
produce ready for implementation architectural design works for model tourism
developments.
Upgrade mountain climbing and rescue facilities in Rwenzori, Elgon, Muhabura and Kadam.
This will include putting in place trails, rest points, accommodation facilities, and safety and
rescue services.
Establish a tourist circuit on Lake Victoria (botanical gardens, Lutembe Beach, Ngamba Island,
UWEC). This will include the development of two landing sites, a migratory bird observatory
at Lutembe Beach, a/the UWEC floating restaurant and the acquisition of three boats.
Upgrade Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) by constructing an education and
information complex, increasing the animal exhibits and recreational facilities and stone
paving the trail and road network.
Establish satellite Wildlife Education Centres for the four (4) regions of Uganda.
Construct a dining hall, a dormitory, 10 staff houses and a museum block at the Uganda
Wildlife Training Institute (UWTI) - and retool the Institute.
Construct an extension of the National Museum to expand its operations and modernise its
interpretation facilities by establishing ICT/database aided interpretation equipment and
tools.
Establish interpretation centres at 10 cultural and archaeological sites.
Revive the Uganda Institute of Ecology (UIE).
Strategy 11: Develop strong public and private sector institutional linkages
Intervention Description
i)
ii)
Establish and support tourism and wildlife associations.
Support district commercial and environment offices to handle wildlife conservation, museum
98
and monument matters.
iii) Support the development of tourism private sector apex body.
Strategy 12: Undertake research to support the development of tourism, wildlife
resources and cultural heritage
Intervention Description
i)
ii)
Create a wildlife resources data bank for Uganda.
Conduct tourism specific studies on trends, inventory and problem analysis to enrich the
database.
Strategy 13: Develop a public-private partnership (PPP) framework for the
management of tourism, wildlife and cultural heritage attractions
Intervention Description
i)
ii)
Register and train private wildlife management entrepreneurs countrywide.
Support tourism development in local governments.
Strategy 14: Improve human-wildlife relationships
Intervention Description
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
vi)
vii)
Formulate national guidelines for wildlife veterinary interventions.
Resettle and/or compensate people residing in key tourism and wildlife conservation areas.
These include: Majelli community in Ajai, Benetcommunity in Elgon and Mbwa Tract in
Bwindi.
Negotiate and acquire land for migration corridors in Aswa Lolim.
Carry out evaluations on the existing human-wildlife conflict mitigation measures with a view
to improve them.
Implement problem animal deterrent and scare measures (trenches, walls, thunder flashes,
crocodile barriers, pepper and live fence) to reduce incidents of human-animal conflict.
Carry out electric fencing of 118 km boundaries of Lake Mburo to address the problems of
animals around the park as a pilot project.
Carry out electric fencing of 100 km part of Queen Elizabeth National park.
Strategy 15: Effective participation in international decision making
Intervention Description
i)
ii)
Clear accumulated subscriptions to WTO and other international bodies.
Support private sector participation and advocacy in regional and international meetings.
Strategy 16: Enhance security and safety for tourists and tourism resources
Intervention Description
i)
ii)
Develop and implement a national safety and security plan for tourists and tourism resources.
Strengthen law enforcement in wildlife conservation areas to guarantee the security of
tourists and wildlife resources.
99
ANNEX 4: AREAS IN WHICH THE OPPORTUNITY STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN
Figure 21: Survey itinerary
Source: www.skyviewofafrica.com

KAMPALA: selected hotels, tour companies, airport and bus terminals together
with craft markets, including Exposure Africa, the National Theatre Market,
Banana Boat and Ndere Cultural Centre.

KAFU LOCAL COMMUNITY STOP-OVER, KAMPALA-GULU HIGHWAY: focus
group discussion with market vendors and their leaders.

PACKWACH: Anyayo Hotel, Global Village Hotel, Albertine Conservation and
Tourism Association, Packwach Rural Environmental Agro Forestry, Pacer Village
Black Smiths Community, Bero Pamungu Community Based Organization, Bero
Pamungu Drama and Farmers Group.

MURCHISION FALLS NATIONAL PARK: Boomu women’s group community
tourism, Red Chili Hideaway Camp, Paraa Lodge, Mubako Community Integrated
Association, Uganda Wildlife Authority Office.

FORT PORTAL AND RWENZORI AREA: Kyaninga Lodge, Kyaninga Community
Group, Nyabwina Women and Cultural Group, Nubian-Njara Muslim Women
Catering and Hiring Services Group, Whispering Gardens Camping Centre, Kbarole
Tourism Association and Kabarole Tours and Travel.
100

QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK: Kikorongo Women Community; Simba
Safari Lodge, Katwe Salt Lake Community, Katwe Tourism Information Centre,
Katunguru Highway Crafts Centre, Kyambura Community Lodge and Kingfisher
Lodge.

BWINDI NATIONAL PARK: Buhooma Community Camp Ground, Batwa Cultural
Centre Crafts Shop and Booking Office, Batwa Development Program and
Volcanoes Safari Lodge.

KABALE-LAKE BUNYONYI AREA: Nyambugo Women Group, Bufumuka Village
Community and Birds Nest Tourist Hotel.

OTHER GOVERNMENTAL AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES VISITED:
Uganda Tourism Board, Uganda Export Promotion Board, USAID-Sustainable
Tourism in the Albertine Rift (STAR), Uganda Community Tourism Association
(UCOTA) and Ministry of Trade (MOT).
101
Annex 5 – Uganda: cultural and religious sites
Uganda is a country of diversity irrespective of its size. It is blessed with a wide range of
cultures and traditions, with warm welcoming people of over 30 different indigenous
languages and 70 different dialects. The country has diversity of art, music and
handicrafts, which differentiate the cultural groups including the Bantu-speaking
people (including Buganda, Busoga, Bunyoro, Ankole etc) and the Nilotics (include
Acholi, Lango, Japadhola, Alur etc),
Uganda’s cultural diversity can be seen through colourful traditions, dances, ceremonies,
history and lifestyle of the people. There is a lot of respect attached to dressing in public.
Cultural attire is put on during traditional functions while each tribe has their specific
cultural wear. All Ugandan tribes have identity with their cultural background with a
leader to whom they oblige loyalty once they gather before him.
Religion
Christianity is Uganda’s dominant religion and it incorporates the Roman Catholics,
Anglicans, Pentecostals and Orthodox. The other religions include Islam and the Baha’i
faith.
There are several religious sites in Uganda which could be of interest to travellers like the
Kibuli mosque on Kibuli Hill, Rubaga Cathedral On Rubaga Hill, Namirembe Cathedral on
Namirembe Hill, The Baha’i Temple, Hindu Temple and the Colonel Gadaffi Mosque.
Bahai Temple: It is located on Kikaaya Hill 6km from Kampala Gayaza road.
This is the only temple for worship of its own in Africa. It has its unique norms as
compared to other religious temples and its architecture is very unique. Its compound is
superb with a view of Kampala city. It is a place only known for prayers and meditation.
There are 8 houses of worship in the world and Bahai temple is the mother temple of
Bahai in Africa. It is also called ‘MashriquI-Adhkar’, the Persian translation of the dawning
place of the praise of God.
Hindu Temple: It is close to Nakasero market, this sandstone building was made without
the use of a single nail, and is adorned with ornaments and symbols, it lights up with
thousands of fairy lights during the night, Diwali and other Indian religious festivals. It is
commonly known for the Indians who are Hindustanis.
Uganda Martyrs’ Shrine: The site is located in Namugongo off Jinja road. It is a religious
place where in 1886 more than 20 newly converted Christians were burnt alive following
the command of Kabaka Mwanga II after refusing to renounce the white man's religion.
The majority of the martyrs were Kabaka's workers, and were sent to death for his fear of
losing the throne.
St.Paul's Namirembe Cathedral: The church has been in existence since 1892, however
other churches have been built on top of Namirembe hill. The church provides a
spectacular view of Kampala and was constructed with instructions from Kabaka Daudi.
The oldest and centrally located Diocese in Uganda, Namirembe, plays an outstanding
role in gauging the life and spirit of the whole church in general as far as Uganda is
concerned. Namirembe is the oldest, among the 29 Diocese of the Anglican church of the
province of Uganda.
102
St. Mary's Cathedral Rubaga: This is a ravishing church which graces the hill top of
Rubaga. Previously it was a site for the royal palace of Kabaka Mutesa. It was constructed
between 1914 and 1925 with the help of the Catholics’ donations from the Missionary
churches abroad. Built at the beginning of the century, the magnificent St. Mary’s Catholic
Cathedral stands on Rubaga Hill, overlooking the city. The church has been a key player in
construction on numerous schools of colonial brick style e.g. Namilyango, Kisubi,
Namagunga, Buddo and Gayaza.
Kibuli Mosque: It is surrounded by the serenity of the palm trees, the structure is
at the top of Kibuli Hill and is the centre of the Islamic faith in Uganda.
Old Kampala Mosque: This is also referred to as Gadafi Mosque because the money that
funded its construction was from the former and disposed President of Libya Col Gadafi.
It is also a Muslim mosque and is magnificently located on the hill of Old Kampala.
Historical and cultural sites
Uganda Museum: It is Located on Kiira Road in Kampala City. It is a unique collection of
ethnological exhibits covering hunting, agriculture, war, religion, witchcraft and natural
history, as well as a great collection of traditional musical instruments from all over the
continent. The building also houses the Uganda Society and their library with a wide
range of books on Uganda's history and culture.
National theatre: It is located on De Winton Road in the heart of Kampala City.
The National Theatre is the home of a number of drama and dance troupes, and
frequently stages new productions. The Majority of visiting artists perform here.
Kasubi Tombs: This is the traditional burial tombs for Buganda Kings. The tourism site is
located on Hoima road after Nakulabye round about. For hundreds of years until March
2010, it was a magnificent huge dome-like structure that housed the remains of the four
former Buganda Kings that is King Mutesa I, Mwanga II, Daudi Chwa II, and Edward
Mutesa II. One of UNESCO’s most cherished sites in Africa, the tombs were constructed in
a traditional fashion with thatch poles and reeds that made up the roof. Until it vanished
in an inferno last year, the structure housed a variety of artefacts that belonged to the
kings. The site is looked after by the descendants of the kings' wives who live in the huts
that belonged to their relatives. It is now under reconstruction.
Naggalabi Buddo Coronation site: This is a site that enables visitors to discover
Buganda. It is located on Masaka road near the school of King's College Buddo. This
panoramic hill top at Naggalabi Buddo is the historic heart of Buganda Kingdom. It was at
this place that the Buganda Kingdom began or came into existence during the time of
Bemba. It is at this place that all the kings of the Buganda Kingdom were and are still
crowned. The site also has the Buganda house where the king has to live for about 7 days
after coronation so as to fulfill cultural rituals.
Kabaka's Lake: This is found in the city suburb of Ndeeba between Ring Road and
Nabunya Road. It is a man-made lake that was dug out on the orders of Kabaka Mwanga
in the 1880s as an 'escape corridor' to Lake Victoria. It is the largest excavated lake in
Africa.
Kabaka's palace (the Lubiri): The palace is located on Kabakanjagala Road on Mengo
hill. It consists of two large palaces connected by a straight road. When walking from
103
Bulange which is a home to Mengo offices, there is a round about with a straight road in
the middle of it which is for Kabaka's use ONLY, as the local superstition says he must not
turn a corner on this route to any where. The Kabaka Palace consists of the Kabaka House
commonly Known as the Twekobe House.
Wamala Tombs: Just like the Kasubi Tombs, the Wamala Tombs are located on Hoima
road near Nakulabye round about. The place was set on a hill top in beautiful
surroundings. Wamala King's Tombs are the sacred burial place of Kabaka Suuna II who
was a powerful ruler, with a fearsome reputation for punishment. His death heralded a
golden age by bringing Kabaka Mutesa I to the throne.
104
Annex 6 – List of international organisations involved in sustainable tourism development
Type of activity
Organization/
Date
Project Name
United Nations
Development
Programme
(UNDP)
Improving
policies and
regulations to
support
development of
markets in
Tourism
UNDP
Project
Value
(in US$)
Ministry of Tourism,
Uganda Tourism
Board, Ministry of
Finance Planning and
Economic
Development
(MFPED);
ONGOING
2011 -2014
1,25 M
Beneficiaries
- Key ministry
staff;
- Selected
district local
government
officials
Objectives and Activities
- Review and/or design of
selected national policies and
regulations in the tourism
sector.
Improving
policy and
regulatory
environment
Developing
tourism
sector and
project
formulation
Creating
supply
capacity of
communities
Hospitality
training
NR
NR
NR
NR
WR
WR
WR
WR
SR
SR
SR
SR
CR
CR
CR
CR
ER
ER
ER
ER
NR
NR
NR
NR
Local Government
(3 years)
ONGOING
1,25 M
Support for
Development of
Inclusive Markets
in Tourism
Implementing
partners
2011 2014
Ministry of Tourism,
Uganda Tourism
Association, Tour
Operator
Organization, Hotel
Owner Association,
Uganda Wildlife
Authority, Uganda
Local poor
communities
- Development of tourism
markets,
- Participation of the poor and
local communities in the
tourism sector as
entrepreneurs, employees and
consumers,
- Creation of market linkages
WR
WR
WR
WR
Potential areas
to be completed
by ITC project
- Support to the
decentralisation
process (Public
and private
sector)
- Creation of
regional Tourism
associations
(hotels, tour
operators, etc.)
- Interventions
based on ITC’s
opportunity
study results
(3 years)
Ministry of Tourism;
Tourism Institutions,
Local communities
PLANNED
UNCTAD
2012
onwards
- Development and promotion of
new niche products that are
also pro-poor,
- Building the capacity of key
tourism support institutions
and associations.
- Technical support and advice
for mentoring the linkages,
- Develop innovative and viable
tourism products and services,
- Provide specialized business
development services to
selected enterprises
- Sectors not yet chosen
Tourism Board (UTB)
US$ 600,0
00
Ministry of
Tourism, local
authorities,
private sector,
local
communities
Strengthen capacities for
sustainable tourism
development in Uganda:
- Adaptation of UNCTAD's
pedagogical material on
sustainable tourism to the
Ugandan national and local
contexts
- Strengthening of national and
local capacities on sustainable
tourism issues
- Strengthening of national and
local capacities on sustainable
tourism-related project
planning
- Development of a national and
local training and facilitation
capacity in the field of
sustainable tourism
- Rolling out of training and
SR
SR
SR
SR
CR
CR
CR
CR
ER
ER
ER
ER
NR
NR
NR
NR
WR
WR
WR
WR
SR
SR
SR
SR
CR
CR
CR
CR
ER
ER
ER
ER
- Coordinate in
order that UNDP
project engages
in activities that
ensure
externalities to
ITC project
Areas of
collaboration are
under discussion
106
Ministry of Tourism
PLANNED
Ministry of
Tourism
US$ 3.1 M
(3 years)
District
Commercial
Services Support
USAID
- Tourism
Training
Institute Jinga
- Hotel school
students
(US$ 2.9M
EIF,
US$ 250,0
00 in kind)
Submitted
to EIF in
July 2011
ONGOING
STAR project
2009-2011
AED, The George
Washington
University, US Forest
Service, AWF, IGCP,
JGI, FFI, UCOTA, NU,
WCS, UWA, UWEC,
MTTI, CTPH, WCU,
WWF, UTA, AUTO,
UHOA, TAG
Albertine Rift,
parks
facilitation activities in national
/ local languages at the national
and local level
- Enhance the capacity of DCOs
deliver commercial and
business services more
efficiently to increase incomes
of SME entrepreneurs
- Addressing the shortage of
skilled manpower in the
hospitality industry
- Revamping both the physical
and human resource base of
HTTI-TSP(Tourism Training
Institute Jinja Tourism Support
Programme). Technical
assistance towards the institute
to enable it develop long term
capacity to perform its
functions so as to improve on
the quality of services provided
by the industry.
Strengthen sustainable tourism
in support of biodiversity
conservation in the Albertine
Rift region.
- Renew and upgrade the
Albertine Rift tourism product
through market-driven product
development opportunities;
- Increase awareness and
demand for Ugandan tourism
NR
NR
NR
NR
WR
WR
WR
WR
SR
SR
SR
SR
CR
CR
CR
CR
ER
ER
ER
ER
NR
NR
NR
NR
WR
WR
WR
WR
- Provide inclusive
tourism
hospitality
training manuals
- New phase to
start in 2012
with project
area’s extension
to all Uganda
107
COMPLETED
World Bank
PAMSU Project
Global
Environme
nt Facility
(GEf)
1998 –
2008
2M
(10 years)
Internatio
nal
Developm
Ministry of Tourism,
Wildlife and
Antiquities
(UWA)
products;
- Create linkages between
tourism, natural resource
stewardship and biodiversity
conservation;
- Establish and foster businessto-business linkages and
investment;
- Improve local capacity through
training while enhancing the
quality of local tourism
offerings and artisan products;
- Connect small enterprises and
community-based
entrepreneurs in Uganda with
the global market place;
- Monitor, and where possible,
mitigate the social, cultural,
and environmental impacts of
tourism development;
- Strengthen national and local
government, civil society, as
well as private sector capacity
to develop and manage tourism
offerings in a sustainable way.
National
- Establish effective institutional
Commission for
capacity within the wildlife and
Antiquities and
tourism sectors,
Museums,
- Program development and
Ministry of
implementation,
Tourism, Wildlife - Secure the vital natural
and Antiquities,
resource base.
Public
institutions
(Hotel Tourism
Training
Master plan prepared for four
Institute) and
SR
SR
SR
SR
CR
CR
CR
CR
ER
ER
ER
ER
NR
NR
NR
NR
WR
WR
WR
WR
SR
SR
SR
SR
CR
CR
CR
CR
-
108
ent
Associatio
n (IDA)
12,4 M
COMPLETED
EU
Uganda
Sustainable
Tourism
Development
Programme
2002-2007
(5 years)
European
Developm
ent fund
(EDF)
private sector
training
institutions
districts in the Western region
Project focused mostly in and
around protected areas
World Bank, United
States Agency for
International
Development
(USAID), GTZ/KFW,
UK Department for
International
Development (DfID)
and nongovernmental
organisations (NGOs)
Local
communities,
public and
private sector
actors
- Sustainable growth and
development of the tourism
sector,
- Create economic and financial
benefits to stakeholders in the
tourism sector.
ER
ER
ER
ER
NR
NR
NR
NR
WR
WR
WR
WR
SR
SR
SR
SR
CR
CR
CR
CR
ER
ER
ER
ER
Program closed
due to a lack of
political
leadership from
the Ministry of
tourism
109
Annex 7 – Non-exhaustive list of national organisations involved in sustainable tourism development
Type of activity
Foundation
NGOS
Partners
Beneficiaries
Aim of the organization
(Date)
The Uganda
Community
Tourism
Association
(UCOTA)
The community
based tourism
initiative
(COBATI)
50 membergroups
countrywide
- Sustainable development of
local communities through
small-scale tourism and
handcraft enterprises
Ugandan
communities
- Fully participating and
benefiting of Ugandan
communities in tourism in their
communities
Handicraft
producers
- Cluster marketing for crafts
products (basketry, textiles,
sculptures and woodcarvings)
Handicraft
producers
- Selling handicrafts from crafts
villages (batiks, textiles and
traditional bead work)
Uganda
Development
Theatre Association
(UDTA)
Handicraft
producers
- Promote handicraft production,
- a platform for marketing
Uganda’s cultural products,
- a cultural conduit for annual
festivals
- a hub for Art of fashion so as to
create a unique Uganda Brand.
Uganda investment
Authority, UEPB,
Women
entrepreneurs
- Promote women business
owners to create wealth
July 1998
1998
Exposure Africa
1998
Uganda Small Scale
industries
association (USSIA)
National Theatre
1993
Ndere/UDTA
Uganda women
Entreprenuers
1987
Improving the
policy and
regulatory
environment
Developing
the tourism
sector
Creating supply
capacity of
communities
projects
Hospitality
trainings
110
Association
(UWEAL)
USSIA
countrywide
with branches
in 8 districts
National
Association
of
women
organisations in
Uganda
(NAWOU)
1992
UWEAL, UIA, UEPB,
UTB, UWA
Handicraft
producers and
women. With
offices in 5
districts
Uganda
Small
Scale Industries
Association
(USSSIA)
1979
Innovations
systems
cluster
programme
2007
UWEAL, Makerere
University,
EXPOSURE AFRICA,
NAWOU, JUAKHALI,
UMA, PSFU, UEPB
Sida, Makerere
University, PSFU,
UIA
Craftsmen and
Artisans
nationally.
With offices in
25 districts.
Firms and
Farms in East
Africa e.g. bee
keeping
cluster, dairy
cluster,
basketry, Fruit
and vegetable
processing
cluster etc.
and
- Carry out research
- Encourage and facilitate
training of women
- Provide forum for women
business owners
- to promote a coordinated
network of women
organisations for the efficient
use of resources
- Lobbying and advocacy for
women’s interests
- Marketing support
- Microfinance for women
- Women resource centre
- To enhance the industrial
development of small scale
industries in the country right
from the grass root level.
- Facilitate and enhance
innovativeness
- Facilitate and enhance
competition and cooperation
with clusters
- To nurture a competitive mindset amongst cluster members
111
Annex 8 – List of contacts
Steven Mukibi: Wildplaces Africa / the Uganda safari co: steven@safariuganda.com
Resty K. N. Lwanga (National Arts and crafts association of Uganda):
rklwanga@yahoo.com
Ismael Sekandi: Uganda Hotel Owners’ Association (UHOA)
Bruno Sserunkuuma – Makerere Univeristy: brunosse@yahoo.com
Muhwezi Onesimus USAID Star: onesimus@star-uganda.org
Abiaz Rwamwiri USAID Star: abraz@star-uganda.com
Bonifence Byawuwhama AUTO: kitanda@infocom.co.ug
Annex 9 – Detailed SWOT analysis
Strengths
 Plenty of unspoiled and unexplored natural
resources (e.g. half of the world’s mountain
gorilla population, over 1060 bird species,
high density of primates, tree climbing
lions, source of the Nile, white water rafting
sites, Lake Victoria, snow-capped Rwenzori
mountains, dense tropical forests, etc.
 Unique cultural and religious resources
(e.g. Namugongo Martyrs Shrine, Bahai
Temple, Kibwetere Inferno site, Traditional
Kingdoms coronation sites and palaces,
Kasubi Tombs, Balonyo Site, the Uganda
Museum, Nyero Rock Paintings, etc)
 Closeness to the heart of Africa
 Good climate
 Diversified tourism offer in terms of hotel
range (high end to low end guesthouses)
and attractions (cultural, historical, natural
tourism sites)
 Low employment rigidity
 Ease of sourcing some local raw material
inputs
 Ease of sourcing local component inputs
 Large experience in the local market
 Existing local tour operator, hotel and
restaurant associations
 Existing handicrafts skills and production
 Existing pro poor tourism initiatives in the
country (e.g. STAR Project)
 Good roads/trails for mountain biking
 Villages with typical homesteads and
traditional activities
 Tourism is highlighted as a major industry
of focus by the incoming new NRM
government, according to their manifesto
 Tourism is highly ranked in the NDP
thereby giving the sector priority and
attention at national level
 Location (border with Kenya, Rwanda and
DRC)- Easy access
 The untapped tourism potential of Uganda

Weaknesses
 The poor state of Uganda’s roads is the biggest
challenge faced by tourists (22%)
 Insufficient accommodation in the parks,
limited choice of accommodation facilities,
low standards and poor services
 Unprofessional conduct from staff and lack of
skilled human resources associated with weak
vocational training schools
 Lack of tourism related capacity – particularly
at community level - including low community
and government awareness of tourism
benefits and needs
 Weak and inconsistent branding in key
markets, also poor pricing
 Lack of variety in tours
 Training of guides takes a long time
 Lack of supply /quality from handicraft
products
 Lack of market research/weak statistical base
/ Lack of information about the region
 Weak associations at provincial level (hotels
and TOs)

Lack of coordination between stakeholders
and weak public-private partnership
frameworks

Many products are purchased in Kampala
instead of locally (fresh produce, meats)
Limited private sector involvement in
destination marketing
Historically low level of promotions and funds
for the sector
Weak country credit rating
Weak rating on corruption perception
Relatively expensive products
High site lease costs for industrial land
High electricity usage charge
High water costs
Difficult to organise marketing and customer
support at a national level
Many different handicraft groups in Uganda
proposing similar products
Absence of hotel grading and regular
inspections to enhance accommodation and
hotel standards
Inadequate public and private institutional
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Opportunities
 Uganda is becoming a famous bird
watching destination
 Tourist interest in watching artisans at
work
 Growing iconic status of natural and
cultural heritage attractions (quite a
number in Uganda)
 Increased intra-regional and international
air services (particularly low cost carriers);
 Increased coordination of marketing and
industry participation
 The creation of the East African Common
Market
 Emergence of a social networking portal on
the worldwide web
 Increased Internet marketing activities
 Prevailing peace and security in the region
vs. instability in the Maghreb region
 Increased UN and donor recognition of the
sector as key for poverty reduction
 Growing tourism market segments
capacity to initiate meaningful tourism
development. The private sector is
fragmented, small and lacks sufficient public
sector support
 Inadequate policy frameworks to conserve
Uganda’s cultural heritage which is presently
threatened with extinction
 Failure to deliver satisfactory experience and
value for money
 Inadequate policy frameworks
 Over reliance on foreign tourists makes the
sector highly vulnerable to external shocks
 Negative perception of Uganda due to past
insecurity and leadership
Threats
 Rainy season influences (low visitation)
number of visits
 Fragile biodiversity
 Unstable global and local oil prices
 Terrorist or security incidents as major
deterrent to travel
 Increasing effectiveness of competitors
 Adverse publicity for Africa
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