When elephants fight, the grass
suffers, goes an old saying. This becomes more realistic when it is literary
played out by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the private sector
engaged in tourism related business. The proverbial grass, the animals and
related wildlife-based tourism, are suffering. Instead of working together as
partners to promote tourism, the two parties are locked in endless conflicts.
As UWA rolls out innovations to
improve services to clients, the private sector remains opposed, on grounds
that they were not consulted and that what UWA is introducing will ruin their
business. “We are going to strike because UWA has refused to listen to us,”
Herbert Byaruhanga, the president of the Uganda Tourism Authority (UTA) told
Saturday Vision in an interview.
When contacted, Jossy Muhangi, the UWA
public relations manager, down-played the conflict, saying the cat-and-mouse
game does not hold water. “I do not think it is a conflict, the terms are
always clear,” Muhangi said, in reference to the recent development in which
UWA will make gorilla permits accessible online, while booking will be done by
registered Ugandan tour operators “We want them to take advantage of modern
technology,” said Muhangi, adding that the different time zones mean that
intending gorilla trackers would be able to know the number of available
gorilla permits, even at night when tour operators are asleep.
Opposing online gorilla permits on
grounds that it would lead to loss of employment, according to Muhangi, is
counter-productive. He says more intending trackers would be able to see the
gorilla permits online and then contact the Ugandan tour operators. “We know
that tourism is private sector-led, that is why booking is going to be done
through tour operators,” said Muhangi. “As the tour operators make more money
from the increased gorilla trackers, UWA will also reduce on the losses
incurred through unsold permits,” he said.
However, Byaruhanga cites the loss of
business as the reason the tourism fraternity is opposed to online gorilla
permit booking. He says when tourists physically contact tour operators to book
gorilla permits, they can easily be convinced to visit our other parts of the
country. “By taking gorilla permits online, tour operators lose their
bargaining power,” Byaruhanga explained. In September, Maria Mutagamba, the
tourism minister, set up a committee to resolve the matter.
Safari Gorillas at Bwindi
national park
The committee chaired by a
commissioner in the tourism ministry has representatives from UWA, the
Association of Uganda Tourism Operators (AUTO) and the communities, and a
representative from the International Gorilla Conservation Programme. The committee
is chaired by a commissioner in the tourism ministry Mutagamba ordered the
committee to find a solution in three months, which elapsed in December 2013.
However, the matter remains unresolved
because tour operators did not provide a representative. Apart from the online
gorilla permits, the tour operators say UWA is introducing vehicles in national
parks, which private sector players say is going to create competition and take
away business. They also say the World Bank funded initiative in which UWA is
expected to get buses to ply between Kampala and the protected areas will
undermine the earnings of tour operators. “Such services will compliment tour
operators,” said Muhangi. “We are not competing with them. The tour operators
target high end tourists, while our focus is on domestic and budget tourists.”
Muhangi cited groups organized under churches, Rotarians and families as some
of the intending tourists who would visit the protected areas.
For long, he said many people have
kept away from the protected areas because tour operators charge exorbitant
fees. The conflict, which is fueled by greed, ignorance and arrogance, has
rolled the names of the top leadership at UWA in the mud. “I do not know what
is driving this man (Andrew Seguya, the executive director of UWA) you agree on
one thing and he does something else,” said Byaruhanga. When contacted for
comment, Seguya said UWA had formed what he called ‘the coalition of the
willing’, comprising institutions willing to break boundaries to expedite the fulfillment
of Government plans to build infrastructure. He said the Civil Aviation
Authority, which is part of the “coalition of the willing” had introduced
scheduled flights to the largest protected areas of the country.
Others include construction of tourism
roads which will link the protected areas, such as Murchison Falls National
Park in northern Uganda and the southern parts of the country, where Kibale
National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park are Experts say Kaddu
Sebunya, representative of the Africa Wildlife Foundation UWA and the private
sector need each other. But the conflicts that have emerged are motivated by
fear of the unknown. The conflict is unhealthy, especially for the tour
operators because 80% of their business is in the protected areas.
The Government does not adequately
fund the Uganda Tourist Board (UTB). Even UWA does not get enough money from
the Government and it cannot donate the money it uses for marketing to UTB,
unless the law is changed. The private sector should reorganize and engage UWA
over strategic interests and reforms. UWA keeps interacting with tour operators
and lodge owners in clientele relationship. This should evolve into a
partnership relationship. At the moment, the conflict is unhealthy and it does
not help conservation and Tourism Uganda
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