Hotels are not showcasing Uganda!
EDITOR—An article by Mr Opiyo oloya last week bemoaned the fact that leading Kampala hotels have a 5 percent occupancy rate. Oloya proposes that Kampala hotels should affiliate with overseas hotels so that visitors know what they are selling.
EDITOR—An article by Mr Opiyo oloya last week bemoaned the fact that leading Kampala hotels have a 5 percent occupancy rate. Oloya proposes that Kampala hotels should affiliate with overseas hotels so that visitors know what they are selling.
Though I support the idea of hosting regional conferences, even offering casinos and special events, I feel strongly that hotels are neglecting to promote Uganda in all its fullness. My own impression as a former Uganda resident who has visited Kampala four times in the last three years, is that Kampala hotels are not Ugandan enough.
Their decor, food, pastimes, etc should give visitors a sense of what Uganda is all about. Cultural activities should be planned in the hotels as well as the usual tedious discos.
The costs for a night in most of them should be drastically reduced. If there were more Kampala hotels with good standards offering bed and breakfast for $100 a night, with all taxes paid, I think that occupancy rates would rise substantially and tourist revenue be increased. There is a rate at which tourists decide not to come. Rates in good West African hotels are far less.
Many visitors give Kampala a wide berth not because of instability in the north but because of the high cost of visiting Kampala. In addition, city centre roads are choked, pollution from too many cars affects those who want to walk and the curios for sale are similar to those in too many African centres and often made in Kenya and not Uganda.
There is a need to get back to the basics of good baskets, stamped barkcloths, musical instruments that can play music and are not just ornamental, batiks with Ugandan designs not stereotyped visions of Africa, revived Uganda blackware ceramics, etc. There should be a wider range of local postcards and handbooks about Uganda’s history and traditions in the hotels at reasonable prices.
The visitor to Uganda wants to experience Uganda, its food, culture and traditions and not a watered down European, American or Kenyan resort city. There is a lot more to Uganda for the tourist than gorillas and whitewater rafting.
Merrick Posnansky
University of California
Los Angeles
Though I support the idea of hosting regional conferences, even offering casinos and special events, I feel strongly that hotels are neglecting to promote Uganda in all its fullness. My own impression as a former Uganda resident who has visited Kampala four times in the last three years, is that Kampala hotels are not Ugandan enough.
Their decor, food, pastimes, etc should give visitors a sense of what Uganda is all about. Cultural activities should be planned in the hotels as well as the usual tedious discos.
The costs for a night in most of them should be drastically reduced. If there were more Kampala hotels with good standards offering bed and breakfast for $100 a night, with all taxes paid, I think that occupancy rates would rise substantially and tourist revenue be increased. There is a rate at which tourists decide not to come. Rates in good West African hotels are far less.
Many visitors give Kampala a wide berth not because of instability in the north but because of the high cost of visiting Kampala. In addition, city centre roads are choked, pollution from too many cars affects those who want to walk and the curios for sale are similar to those in too many African centres and often made in Kenya and not Uganda.
There is a need to get back to the basics of good baskets, stamped barkcloths, musical instruments that can play music and are not just ornamental, batiks with Ugandan designs not stereotyped visions of Africa, revived Uganda blackware ceramics, etc. There should be a wider range of local postcards and handbooks about Uganda’s history and traditions in the hotels at reasonable prices.
The visitor to Uganda wants to experience Uganda, its food, culture and traditions and not a watered down European, American or Kenyan resort city. There is a lot more to Uganda for the tourist than gorillas and whitewater rafting.
Merrick Posnansky
University of California
Los Angeles