The tourism industry has started a country wide training programme for tour guides in customer care.
The training is part of the efforts aimed at boosting the marketing of tourism industry, which is becoming the leading foreign exchange earner, generating over $600m last year.
“The training of UWA and private guides is, therefore, one strategy of addressing the challenge of inadequate professionalism in our tourism industry” , Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, the tourism minister, observed in a speech read by Andrew Seguya, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) acting Boss.
This was at the pass out of 84 tour guides from different conservation areas in western Uganda at the Makerere University Biological Field station at Kanyawara in Kabale National Park.
The minister said much as Uganda was highly endowed, unless these attractions were packaged into acceptable tourism products coupled with skilled manpower in customer care, they will remain dreams and idealistic geographic items on our maps and records.
He also noted that findings have projected Uganda’s tourism sector to be the leading in Africa.
“We are excited by the recent ranking by the Lonely Planet that identified Uganda as the best tourism destination in 2012”. “We should capitalize on that achievement and aim higher,” the minister added. Lonely Planet is a global travel magazine.
Seguya pointed out that local have basked in a historical belief that tourism is only for the affluent from overseas, yet it is a track of our heritage.
He compared Uganda with the US, which earns $4b annually from bird watching, and yet they have very few birds. He also noted that Europe has only 700 birds but Uganda with 1,057 birds, of which 335 species were found in Kibaale National Park alone. Does not even earn $1b out of bird watching
He attributed this to negative attitude by Ugandans and inadequate customer care accorded to visitors by the wildlife employees.
Seguya said that the training programme was one of the measures to promote domestic tourism and sensitize people about their heritage. Training of guides, he said, was pertinent in causing collective responsibility for natural conservation among the public.
“I encourage you all to use the skills you have learnt to develop our tourism potential further so that we all benefit from this resource.” He said modern structures would be erected in all the conservation areas in the next two years.
Herbert Byaruhanga, the chairman of Uganda Safari Guides Association, which conducted the training together with UWA, said capacity building was necessary for Uganda to take a comparative advantage in their tourism sector.
He emphasized the need for specialized training of guides in bird watching to take the front-line in portraying the image of the sector
By: Bruce Ampumuza
The training is part of the efforts aimed at boosting the marketing of tourism industry, which is becoming the leading foreign exchange earner, generating over $600m last year.
“The training of UWA and private guides is, therefore, one strategy of addressing the challenge of inadequate professionalism in our tourism industry” , Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, the tourism minister, observed in a speech read by Andrew Seguya, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) acting Boss.
This was at the pass out of 84 tour guides from different conservation areas in western Uganda at the Makerere University Biological Field station at Kanyawara in Kabale National Park.
The minister said much as Uganda was highly endowed, unless these attractions were packaged into acceptable tourism products coupled with skilled manpower in customer care, they will remain dreams and idealistic geographic items on our maps and records.
He also noted that findings have projected Uganda’s tourism sector to be the leading in Africa.
“We are excited by the recent ranking by the Lonely Planet that identified Uganda as the best tourism destination in 2012”. “We should capitalize on that achievement and aim higher,” the minister added. Lonely Planet is a global travel magazine.
Seguya pointed out that local have basked in a historical belief that tourism is only for the affluent from overseas, yet it is a track of our heritage.
He compared Uganda with the US, which earns $4b annually from bird watching, and yet they have very few birds. He also noted that Europe has only 700 birds but Uganda with 1,057 birds, of which 335 species were found in Kibaale National Park alone. Does not even earn $1b out of bird watching
He attributed this to negative attitude by Ugandans and inadequate customer care accorded to visitors by the wildlife employees.
Seguya said that the training programme was one of the measures to promote domestic tourism and sensitize people about their heritage. Training of guides, he said, was pertinent in causing collective responsibility for natural conservation among the public.
“I encourage you all to use the skills you have learnt to develop our tourism potential further so that we all benefit from this resource.” He said modern structures would be erected in all the conservation areas in the next two years.
Herbert Byaruhanga, the chairman of Uganda Safari Guides Association, which conducted the training together with UWA, said capacity building was necessary for Uganda to take a comparative advantage in their tourism sector.
He emphasized the need for specialized training of guides in bird watching to take the front-line in portraying the image of the sector
By: Bruce Ampumuza
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