
Sports Sponsorship
Marketing deal would cost around US$51.8-million over three years and aim to boost international tourism. But critics are unconvinced.
TOURISM MARKETING
By our News Team | 2023
But concern that cuts to the national tourism budget will, instead, hinder the sector’s growth and benefit East African travel rivals.
Tourism marketers in Uganda are concerned that the country sometimes described as the ‘Pearl of Africa’ may lose impetus as a visitor destination due to proposed cuts in the tourism budget.
International broadcaster CNN recently called Uganda one of the “best destinations to visit” in 2023 – along with fellow African nations Tanzania and Rwanda, as well as the Egyptian city of Cairo.
Photo courtesy of Explore Uganda
But parliamentarians in Uganda have now expressed dismay over a proposed cut in the tourism budget from Ush194.6-billion (US$52-million) in the current financial year to Ush89.29-billion ($24-million) in the 2023-24 financial year.
“This contradicts the government’s focus on promoting and marketing the country’s tourism to earn more foreign exchange and create jobs,” Hon. Mwine Mpaka, the Chairperson of the Committee on Tourism, Trade and Industry, is quoted as saying on the official website of Uganda’s Parliament.
Cuts will mostly impact promotion and marketing
The country’s shadow minister for tourism, Karim Masaba, also voiced concern. “The budget cuts will mostly affect tourism promotion and marketing. But also, according to the National Development Plan III, new tourism products which are supposed to be developed for the next five years will not be realised,” Masaba is quoted as saying by Business Insider Africa.
According to the publication, Uganda already invests less in tourism that East African contemporaries such as Kenya and Rwanda.
Tourism businesses are worried too. Daniel Tusiime, Chief Executive of Hurra Uganda Safaris, told The EastAfrican newspaper: “I understand the government itself was affected financially by the Covid period, but I was hoping that would have been an eye opener to focus on sectors like tourism that require more funding to directly realise returns of foreign income in the shortest time possible.”
In its appraisal of Uganda as a holiday destination, CNN noted that: “There’s considerable change brewing in Uganda’s travel offerings at the moment with the East African country looking beyond the traditional staples of safari and wildlife spotting to appeal to both regional and international visitors.”
“Keen to revitalise post-Covid tourism in all corners of the country, not just the big-ticket businesses offering wealthy visitors a glimpse of the Big Five beasts or mountain gorillas, it’s turned to marketing its other attributes.”
Marketing deal would cost around US$51.8-million over three years and aim to boost international tourism. But critics are unconvinced.
Changing consumer expectations mean many CX strategies won’t win and retain customers in this new business environment, study finds.
Organisation’s mission is to offer education, insights and events that help drive the evolution of the retail industry around the world.
Sector must take advantage by finding fresh routes to traveller engagement and new ways of building customer experiences.
More than 300 exhibitors representing 15 African countries are already registered, along with 275 buyers from 45 countries.
Global e-commerce giant is said to have postponed SA launch to late 2023 and paused Nigerian market entry until further notice.
On a continent where huge numbers of young people are embracing non-traditional mediums, the rise of podcasting seems assured.
Nearly half of executives interviewed by Deloitte say they face difficulty with developing or implementing the technology.
Issue 4 2022 of Strategic Marketing for Africa, the magazine for deep-thinking industry professionals, provides key 2023 insights.
Study identifies ‘global macro movements’ across human behaviour that will shape business, culture and society in the coming year.
The Department of Justice is seeking a breakup of Google’s business that brokers digital advertising across much of the internet.