On Friday, September 14, four representatives from the
Association met with a group from the Presidential Enterprise
for Sustainable Tourism in Uganda (PRESTO Uganda) to discuss the
possibility of working together in a partnership. The meeting was called by
PRESTO to explain their vision and how the Association can help in pushing it
forward.
The mid-morning meeting was attended by
officials from the President’s Office and the National Planning Authority. A
representative from the foreign affairs ministry also attended.
Mr Moses Dhazaala, a technocrat from NPA,
explained the evolution of the body to the journalists. PRESTO has evolved from
the 1992 Uganda Tourism master plan. For 10 years, there has been a document
that the government has held with the intention of using it to transform the
industry into a self-sustaining authority.
Mr Dhizaala showed the need for planners in
the last few years to move things forward since, according to general consensus
at NPA, red tape was slowing everything down.
Tourism has no sector general plan. It is the
same with many other sectors of the Ugandan economy but it was particularly
galling because of the evidence in recent times of tourism’s value to the
country. While other sectors, like Education, get sacks of money that usually
goes unaccounted for, Tourism suffers because those in charge of it either do
not understand its potential or they are in the wrong job.
In February this year, President Museveni
launched the initiative to act as an overseer. The different agencies that work
closely with tourism-related activities are to be coordinated through the body.
That is where journalists come in. No matter
how much resources are poured into an industry like tourism, if there is no
visibility through constant coverage, Uganda will continue to lag behind other
countries that are less endowed.
The Association was called upon by PRESTO to
get deeply engaged in activities as they would fall, especially those the NPA
team deems priority.
Already, missions abroad have welcomed the
body. Various activities have been staged abroad through coordination of
PRESTO. Ambassadors are driving a revolution where the smallest activity, like
drinking coffee is as Ugandan as can be. Already, there is a presidential
directive that only Ugandan coffee is to be served at the embassies.
The Foreign Affairs office has alreadt
started a dedicated programme of making Uganda as visible as possible at
whatever fair there is around the world. Here, the point is to make as much
noise as possible about Uganda.
Selling Ugandan cultural products, branding
the missions, inviting groups and many such activities are already on schedule
through the activities of PRESTO. Embassies have been required to get plasma
TVs where they can run Ugandan short films. Especially videos shot by
journalists, who are expected to know a lot about the country, would be
required.
The journalists’’ role will be clear. Push
the profile of the country through a concerted campaign. Uganda must do as
other countries have done over the years. Shameless self-promotion is the name
of the game.
Tourism employs less than 100,000 Ugandans
yet it has the potential to employ many times that number. It shall be the job
of the journalist to see that this statistic changes for the better.
