New tour guides portal, mobile app to boost tourism

TOURISM

Uganda tour operators have received training on how to use the new East African Tour Guides Portal and mobile application, to boost tourism, and market East Africa as one leading tourism destination.

Designed by the Uganda Safari Guides Association with a $50,000 funding from GIZ under the IIDEA program, the East African Tour Guides web Portal and mobile application will link tourists, tour operators, and tour guides within East Africa. 

"The tourist picks a tour destination and operator listed on the portal, and then tour operator picks a suitable guide also listed on the portal to give the tourist the best and memorable safari experience of tourism destinations with East Africa," explains Simon Peter Ntege, who heads the IT team that built the portal.

"This portal has come at the right time when Uganda Tourism Board is trying to set standards and bring quality assurance in tour operations, says Brian Tuhaise a board member of the Uganda Safari Guides Association.

He says the government and the tourism sector has lost a lot of money due to incompetent tour guides.

"With continued efforts to market Uganda and East Africa collectively as the leading tourism destination, there is a need to have quality tour guides, competent and licensed, to meet the expectations of tourists and deliver the best tour experience, which the platform will aid," says Tuhaise.

Last year Uganda received over 1.5 million tourists and made $1.6 bn from tourism, according to Uganda Tourism Board statistics.

"But the sector can lose about 70% of its revenue due to unqualified tour guides because of unmet promises and travel experience."

"The professional guide must have all the information at their fingertips and know how to deliver it professionally to avoid bad reviews from the tourists and also maximize earnings for the tourism sector," says Tuhaise.

He says the portal will eliminate quack and unqualified tour guides with no knowledge to deliver the best tourism experience for the tourists flocking Uganda and the East African bloc including Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, and South Sudan where the platform has been put to use. 

"Tour guides are key to the success of the tourism industry," he says. 

So far the portal has about 100 tour operators and guides from the East African countries all of whom have to undergo quality checks in a bid to establish quality and uniform tourism standards in East Africa.

"The tourism industry is growing and the platform provides an opportunity for young East Africans to train as professional tour guides for an opportunity to tap and earn from the tourism sector," says Bonny Ongom the Project Manager East African Youth Tourism Guide Network implemented by the Uganda Safari Guides Association and the Kenya Professional Guides Safari Association and funded by GIZ through the IIDEA program.

Sandra Nyangoma, a tour operator working with Bunyonyi Safaris, admits the portal will equip and increase the number of professional tour guides who were limited in number and widen the tourism market for East Africa.