Indian travel trade discovers Uganda, the Pearl of Africa

A group of 10 travel trade professionals from India, catering to diverse segments of tourism and located across different parts of the country, currently on a large travel trade familiarisation trip organised by Uganda Tourism, has been left amazed by the ‘Pearl of Africa’ and is certain of mounting itineraries to bring high-end travellers from India to Uganda.

The fam trip is part of a strategic decision by Uganda Tourism to undertake market development activities in India, which is the world’s fastest growing large market for outbound travel. As part of its market development activities, Uganda Tourism had participated in travel trade shows in India and the fam trip was a natural corollary to keep the momentum growing.

As part of the trip, on the last day of the trip on Friday, Uganda Tourism organised a B2B networking meet between the visiting Indians and various tourism stakeholders from Uganda, including Destination Management Companies (DMCs), hotels and others. The 10 agents represent a microcosm of the booming outbound travel segment, hailing from a range of diverse cities.

Indian travel trade members interact with their Ugandan counterparts in a special B2B meeting

For Mahendra Vakharia, Chairman, Pathfinders Holidays, a leading high-end travel company in Ahmedabad, this was the first-ever trip to Uganda. He says that the trip and the B2B meetings went off very well for him and other Indian agents.

Mahendra Vakharia

“A wonderful evening today, the last day of our expedition trip to Uganda, I would say. This is my first visit to the country, which is stunningly beautiful. And this meeting was very important to meet up with the stakeholders on the other side, where we can understand what they can offer, how we can collaborate with them, and what are the possibilities that we can create to promote Uganda as a destination, which has got a huge potential from the Indian market,” Vakharia tells India Outbound.

“So, very excited with this B2B meeting that we have had, one-on-one with stakeholders, hoteliers, lodge owners, DMC partners, and waiting to get back home, and put a plan in place and start promoting the destination,” Vakharia adds.

Unlike Vakharia, Heena Munshaw, Owner of Beacon Holidays, is a veteran of Africa as she was the first travel trade professional in India to start promoting Africa in the outbound travel market. She says that she is enthused by the options for upscale visitors from India.

Heena Munshaw

“The business sessions were brief but interesting. We do realise that there is a lot of upmarket product here also available and with the unique features that the destination has to offer like the chimpanzees, the gorillas and the lush green countryside. There is a lot of agro-tourism product also available besides the cultural experiences. So it has its own uniqueness and it can be either a twin destination or a solo destination in the long run. We will have to work with the partners correctly in positioning the product and attending to the nuances of the Indian market and once that is done, it is good to go,” Munshaw tells India Outbound.

Sudhir Patil

Sudhir Patil is Chairman of Veena World, one of the largest outbound-focussed tour operators in Mumbai, catering to diverse segments of travellers. Patil says that not only was the destination a great discovery for him, but he was also impressed by the positivity amongst the Ugandan tourism stakeholders.

“We had a great time in Uganda and today we have seen the enthusiasm of Ugandan tourism stakeholders to receive Indians. So we look forward to have this relationship strengthened in the near future, and we will see how we can send Indians to Uganda. What we saw was positivity from all service providers who support growth of Indian tourism, and their willingness to adapt themselves and their services as per the requirements of what Indian tourists. I think we, the Indian tour operators and travel agents who have travelled with us, will positively promote Uganda in the Indian market,” Patil tells India Outbound.

Nagsri Shashidhar

For Nagsri Shashidhar, Chief Happiness Officer, of Nagsri, a Mumbai-based travel agency, too, this was the first trip to Uganda and it busted several myths in her mind. “I absolutely loved the destination and I think after the fam trip, what was important was to actually consolidate our feedback and meet up with certain stakeholders who would then help us take forward the entire agenda of promoting Uganda to our clients and that is exactly what happened at this B2B session,’’ Shashidhar tells India Outbound.

Swaytank Maheshwari

Swaytank Maheshwari of Rainbow Vacations from Jaipur in Rajasthan says that the visit helped him understand the product better. “We had a lovely experience in Uganda and we could see all the plusses out there and a small bit of things which could be improved in Uganda. But it was a beautiful experience and now we understand the product very well. We had great meetings with our partner stakeholders in Uganda tourism, and we could meet various lodges and DMCs out here and some of the lodges were really worth looking at and I think one of the few DMCs we have looked at and we look forward to working with them out of this B2B meeting. That is our takeaway from these meetings and this visit to Uganda,’’ Maheshwari tells India Outbound.

Ugandan travel trade enthusiastic about Indian visitors

The B2B interaction was a great learning experience not just for the Indian travel agents, but also their Ugandan counterparts.

Marinka Sanc-George

“I came because I was curious. I was curious that we had Indian interest because so far we haven’t had any. But I also realised that Indian tourism is a different ballpark to Uganda because it is a very high end tourism. There is a lot of potential for promoting tourism from Uganda to India, but only if it is packaged properly. So, not necessarily copy and paste like everyone is doing. But we need to listen to every single agent that has come from India and provide them what their clients are looking,” Marinka Sanc-George,

Okwakunda Allen Kabano

Owner, Let’s Go Travels, a Ugandan travel firm that deals with inbound and outbound  market in Uganda, tells India Outbound.

The meeting was also very important for Ugandan hospitality providers. “We have two lodges, one in the middle of Kibale National Park Forest, from where it is very easy to go for chimpanzee tracking as it is just five minutes away from our lodge. We also have farm lodge where we offer close exposure to Ugandan culture and offer unique experiences in agri and rural tourism,” Okwakunda Allen Kabano, Marketing Officer, Emburara Safaris, a Ugandan travel and tourism firm which operates safaris and also owns lodges tells India Outbound.

Ugandan Government committed to promoting destination in India

Earlier in her keynote address, Joyce Kakuramatsi Kikafunda, High Commissioner of Uganda to India, highlighted the numerous steps being taken by the Ugandan government to promote the country as a tourism destination.

Joyce Kakuramatsi Kikafunda

“The theme of this farm trip was ‘Discover Uganda, the Pearl of Africa’. The great Winston Churchill was spot on when he named Uganda the Pearl of Africa more than a century ago. Today, friends, the Pearl of Africa is shining brighter than ever. The country is blessed by nature. It is richly endowed with attractions that can whet the appetite of even the most discerning tourists,” Kikafunda said in her address.

“We have identified and prioritised tourism as the top sector to promote between Uganda and India and we have a target to increase tourist arrivals from India by 20 pc in the next two years, through targetted tourism promotion, partnerships, and investment facilitation in the tourism infrastructure,” she said.

In order to achieve the target, the Ugandan high Commission In Delhi has undertaken several steps include participating in leading travel trade shows in India and that these initiatives would be followed by a series of other strategic moves to promote Uganda in India. She highlighted that Uganda had already resolved two of the biggest hurdles in promoting tourism, access and ease of visas.

“After years of negotiations, on October 9, 2023, the national carrier, Uganda Airlines, launched direct flights between Mumbai and Entebb and this was a game-changer, as it offered not just convenience, but more importantly, cut the travel time in half from 14 hours to under 7 hours today,’’ she said.

The High Commissioner added that Indian agents told her that another landmark decision which has facilitated tourism from India and can lead to a boom is the ability for the Mission in New Delhi to issue electronic visas to all intending travellers in less than 48 hours.

In his address, Ambassador Elly Kamahungye Kafeero, Director of International and Regional Economic Cooperation at Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, encouraged stronger tourism and investment ties between Uganda and India and highlighted Uganda’s focus on four strategic pillars of trade, investment, tourism, and technology supported by infrastructure development. He also invited Indian investors to partner in tourism infrastructure projects such as roads, resorts, and hospitality facilities, key to unlocking Uganda’s full potential as a tourist destination.

Francis Nyende, Marketing Manager, Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), highlighted key measures that the tourism promotion body would undertake in India to build on the success of the fam trip.

“One of the most important ones is for us to increase our destination visibility, and I think every speaker has rightly called out the need for Uganda to be marketed a lot better in this market. So we are going to do a lot of that. I have been told there are very unique nuances across the country, which we shall take into consideration to make sure we deliver the right product for the right consumer. We also need to build a lot of these strategic alliances, and I am glad we have 10 of some of India’s biggest tour businesses here. We want to build those alliances and make them a lot more stronger, drive a lot of collaboration with our tour operators and travel associations across the two countries, because there is definitely a lot to offer between our two nations. We also want to diversify a lot of our portfolio. Uganda is much more than chimpanzees and gorillas. Our hospitality, the food, the experience and the nature. So we will look forward to diversifying that portfolio to our Indian visitors. And also, we want to encourage a lot of investment. I know a lot of our bottlenecks are around the infrastructure within the parks, the rooms, the tents. We want to invite the Indian community not only to come and visit, but also partake into the opportunity that comes with the investment,’’ said Nyende.