Uganda Tourism is opening its gates to Eastern Europe
A group of ten Russians comprising eight tour operators and two journalists were scheduled to arrive in Uganda last Saturday (April 14).
The Russian tour operators, who will be here for nine days are expected to sign contracts and Memoranda of Understanding with their Ugandan counterparts on promoting Uganda as a destination of choice.
This should ultimately open the visitor floodgates of Eastern Europe to Uganda.
The visit that is expected to be an eye opener for the Russians, who have for many decades been locked out of world activities because of the seclusive communism, will be the first of its kind by Russian tour operators.
The hospitality sector has offered various concessions to the visitors’s comfortable stay in Uganda.
Kampala Serena Hotel, Mweya Safari Lodge, Paraa lodge have offered single day full board accommodation facilities, while Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has waived 50% off its gorilla tracking permits.
Officials also say Uganda Waragi, a top Ugandan gin will serve as a perfect substitute for the reknown Russian vodka for the visitors.
In September 2006, a group of Uganda tour operators visited Russia and took part in the annual Russian Tourism Exhibition. It is at this exhibition that the tour operators courted some Russian tour operators and floated the idea of them visiting.
“We are targeting the upmarket Russian travellers not backpackers for now,” said Sylvia Kalembe, Senior Information Officer, Tourism Uganda.
Information available indicates that some tour operators have already received a host of Russian tourists.
In East Africa, Tanzania has reportedly moved fastest in tapping Russian tourists.
The country went the extra mile of translating local literature into Russian to ease communication and marketing barriers with their clientele.
But officials at Tourism Uganda say because they are initially courting the upmarket tourists, language is not an initial challenge because the wealthy speak more international languages.
Tourism Uganda is hoping that Uganda gets marketed as part of the destination Africa and not Uganda exclusively because it is easier to start broadly and use Uganda as a stopping point, cashing in on her unique niche features.
Uganda boasts of unmatched natural scenery, an uncompared number and variety of bird species and more than half of the surviving mountain gorillas live in western Uganda’s Bwindi impenetrable forests.