Uganda hosts prestigious aviation forum

Jul 08, 2013

CRITICS at home and abroad never gave Uganda a chance to host the November 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government’s Meeting (CHOGM 2007).

By Joel Ogwang
CRITICS at home and abroad never gave Uganda a chance to host the November 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government’s Meeting (CHOGM 2007).

The opposition political parties fought Uganda’s bid, even petitioning the Commonwealth Secretariat to take the summit to another country.

Not only did they fight a losing battle; Uganda punched beyond her weight when she organised one of the most spectacular CHOGMM events.

But, if by gracing the summit, Queen Elizabeth, the titular head of the Commonwealth, blessed Uganda, she did so unwaveringly.

For, since then, Uganda has ridden on the positive image and impact CHOGM 2007 created, emerging as a top conferencing and tourism destination.

The post-CHOGM period attracted a number of international conferences to Uganda, with the discovery of oil also positioning the country as an attractive investments destination.

The latest in a queue of the conferences is the Routes Africa 2013 meeting that will opens yesterday and ends tomorrow.

“It is a very prestigious conference,” says Ignie Igunduura, the public affairs manager at the Civil Aviation Authority Uganda (CAA Uganda).

“It doesn’t take place in one venue. Hosting leaves a feeling, the kind Brazil got for winning the bid to host the 2014 World Cup because it is a rigorous exercise involving bidding by many countries just like it is with CHOGM.”

Routes Africa is a forum where decision-makers from the Airline and Airport Industry, together with Tourism organisations, gather to plan and discuss air services development in their respective countries with a key objective of improving air connectivity across the African Region. The 7th Routes Forum was held in Seychelles last year.

With the 8th Routes Africa edition held in Kampala; Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, will host the 9th forum in 2014 having won the bid.

The meeting intended to provide a unique forum where air service development trends are assessed and discussions held between airlines, airports, tourism bodies and other agencies will be held at the picturesque Speke Resort, Munyonyo in Kampala.

It presents CAA Uganda with an opportunity to showcase the institution and Uganda as key tourism and investment hubs.

The summit will also improve air services development, promote and re-position Entebbe International Airport as a tourism destination.

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Civil Aviation Authority offices at Entebbe



Participants

Representives from 54 airlines, 53 airports, 17 tourism organisations, 19 equipment suppliers and 30 VIPs (30) will attend. Others are; 215 international delegates, 25 international media houses, 17 Routes Secretariat (UBM) and local delegates.

“When you are a big fish in a small pond, you need to swim in lakes and rivers to realise how big you are (compared to others,” says David Mpango Kakuba, the CAA Uganda deputy managing director.

“For three days, we will have high-profile delegates in Kampala. We need to work together and put-up something that is formidable.”

In a bid to market the East African region as a tourism destination, five regional tourism ministers will grace the summit

“We expect over 300 high level delegates,” says Igundura. “The 215 international delegates are high-level representatives, including chief executive officers of airlines and airports.”

In its bid, CAA Uganda paid out 58,000 Euros to UBM Routes Ltd, an events management firm, as a commitment deposit.

Part of this money will cater for the firm’s services whilst the other portion will cater for payment of the venue and its organisation.

“As CAA Uganda, our main function will be to facilitate the meeting while the body organising the summit is UBM,” says Igunduura.

The forum will discuss and examine the existing and future markets, avenues for new routes in Africa by local, regional and international airlines, safety and security, among others.

“Airlines will also discuss with each other how they can work together in partnerships, especially local and regional airlines with the international airlines,” says Igunduura.

At the meeting, there will be networking sessions, Routes Africa strategy forum and route exchange airline briefings.

There will also be an exhibition by aircraft equipment manufacturers and tourism promotion agencies.

“By hosting the conference, CAA Uganda is show-casing Uganda,” says Kakuba. “Uganda has not been known for hosting failed conferences. We have a responsibility to organise the best summit.”


Why Uganda won bid to host Routes Africa 2013

By Vision Reporter

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CAA officials after Uganda won the bid to host the 8th Routes Africa summit in Seychelles last year. Right is deputy managing director Mpango Kakuba and next to him is public affairs manager Ignie Igunduura


When courting a young and beautiful girl, a man has to present himself as the most handsome, tallest and intelligent,” says Ignie Igunduura, the public affairs manager at the Civil Aviation Authority Uganda (CAA Uganda).

“This is what we (CAA Uganda) did and won the bid to host the 8th Routes Africa meeting.” Indeed, being the custom and tradition of choosing a CAA to host the next annual summit, CAA Uganda, like others, took to ‘courting’ the aviation community in a bid to sell herself as the best host for Routes Africa 2013.

To host the meeting, a country’s CAA tenders-in a bid to Routes Africa. A technical team then visits individual countries to assess their suitability, considering the performance of its aviation industry and facilities available.

In the courting, meanwhile, countries used video documentaries featuring their economies, security, tourism potential and airport traffic growth as key benchmarks to select the next host during Routes Africa 2012 held in Seychelles.

Whilst Uganda’s score was satisfactory on all other benchmarks, it is its tourism potential and presentation as a fast-emerging investments destination that endeared the Pearl of Africa most.

“The forum brings together many stakeholders,” says Igunduura. “Considering that tourism agencies and potential investors will also be present, these (tourism and investments) sub-sectors contributed a lot in selling us.”


What is Routes Africa?


A member of Routes International, Routes Africa is a route development forum for the African region.

The continent’s forum convenes airports, airlines, tourism organisations, the media and other stakeholders in the aviation industry to discuss trends of routes or air services development on the continent.

“The forum also creates one-on-one discussions between airports and airlines; and airlines and airlines on other routes they can develop,” says Igundura.

During the summit, African and foreign airlines examine their markets and carry out studies on which new routes to develop.

Why Uganda stood-out


The country boasts a fast growing tourism sector averaging 21% annual growth, contributing 24% of the total foreign exchange earnings.

Uganda’s domestic tourism has grown by 50% over the past 10 years. The country has a diverse culture, landscape, flora, and fauna.

Uganda too, boasts 6.8% of the world’s butterfly specie, 10.2% of bird species, 7.8% of the world mammals and 53% of mountain gorilla population, a mammal closest to man in structure, behaviour and thinking.

Uganda is also the source of the longest river on the continent and world- River Nile- with the most electrifying rafting opportunity on earth.

The discovery of huge deposits of oil estimated at 3.5 billion barrels presented Uganda as an investments destination, a feat that continues to boost passenger volumes through Entebbe International Airport.

At the time, lady-luck had smiled to Uganda, earning it many accolades. The latest and most prestigious, then, was Lonely Planet, the world’s largest travel guidebook and digital media publisher’s ranking of Uganda as not just Africa’s, but the world’s premier destination.

Even at Routes Africa 2012 summit in Seychelles, Entebbe International Airport won the Best Marketing Award in Africa, conferred by Routes International, a global association that brings together air operators and other stakeholders.

Entebbe won an award for being the airport that attracted most airlines, bringing on board four new international airlines between 2011- 12.

The airport was recognised for attracting the most air operators including, but not limited to; Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, NAS Air (Eritrea) and Gulf Air.

At the end of the 2012 summit, had edged four countries to host Routes Africa 2013 edition to be held in July 2013.

“It is a rigorous marketing function where airlines and airports come together and negotiate on how to develop a partnership,” notes David Mpango Kakuba, the CAA Uganda deputy managing director.

“When we were at Routes International summit in 2011, we (CAA Uganda) negotiated with a number of airlines. This ended with Qatar Airlines starting flights into Entebbe.”

Such was the intensity of the competition that when CAA Uganda won the bid to host Routes Africa 2013, Manchester, UK- based UBM Aviation Routes Ltd, the summit organiser, Kakuba was elated with Uganda’s successful bid.

He was quoted as saying in Seychelles; “We are absolutely delighted to have been selected as host of Routes Africa in 2013 as there is no better way to push what the country has to offer than for people to come and see it for themselves. We will be opening the doors of Uganda to all routes delegates and enabling them to enjoy first-hand the hospitality and wonders of the country.”

CAA Uganda is a member of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), an umbrella organisation of 134 CAAs head-quartered at Montreal, Canada.

“We have attended seven Routes Africa meetings before,” says Iguundura.

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