PRIORITIZE TOURISM -POLICY MAKERS URGED AHEAD OF ECONOMY FULL REOPENING

The president of Uganda Tourism Association Byaruhanga Herbert has called upon politicians to allocate money to the private sector  to support government in development and marketing  of Uganda  through tourism ahead of economy reopening.

According to Byaruhanga, if  this strategy is properly implemented , the number of tourists coming to Uganda will gradually increase and in the  long run this increase jobs availability while boosting  the industry rather than living the task to only the Uganda Tourism Board.

The Uganda Tourism Association boss also called upon government to protect the local businesses that took loans before and during the pandemic since it will be hard and expensive for them to start again.

In his view the government should talk to banks to waiver off the interests and restructure loans so that the business community doesn't collapse on their sight.

On promoting the tourism business across the country, Mr.Byaruhanga said that improving various areas like in recruiting work forces, introducing newer packages to attract demand and getting support from well trained people has of late helped the business to register some success though various challenges are still on the way.

Facilitation of the fundermental bridge that connects West Nile to other districts by government has also been of great significance lately as it eased the tourist's crossing of River Nile to Murchison falls national Park he added.

Also the improvement in digital marketing especially on social media plus working with government to let the tourism sector stay open amidst the pandemic is also an addition mile stone they have gained lately in the tourism sector.

The mere fact that domestic tourism takes year's to develop and there is urgency for it to be developed in Uganda, Mr. Byaruhanga's take on this is that we should allocate 70% of the resources to international tourists and 30% to domestic tourism to help it grow and improve.

Like in many other parts of the world, the tourism sector of Uganda has also faced tremendous challenges due to the COVID19 pandemic but as the country plans the full reopening of the economy in January, promoting the nation's main source of foreign revenue should be prioritized.