As the region fights hard to revamp tourism back to normal, a new Tour Guides web Portal and mobile application has been introduced and is set to contribute big toward reframing tourism.
Recently, Uganda tour operators received training on how to use the Portal to boost tourism, and market East Africa as one leading tourism destination worldwide.
The new East African Tour Guides web Portal and mobile application was designed by the Uganda Safari Guides Association with a $50,000 funding from GIZ under the IIDEA program. The web portal is set to link tourists, tour operators, and tour guides within East Africa.
According to Simon Peter Ntege, head of IT team that built the portal, with the portal and app, 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.
According to Brian Tuhaise, a board member of the Uganda Safari Guides Association, he says this portal has come at the right time when Uganda Tourism Board is trying to set standards and bring quality assurance in tour operations.
He adds that 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,” explains Tuhaise.
According to Uganda Tourism Board statistics, in 2019 Uganda received over 1.5 million tourists and made $1.6 bn from tourism. However, the sector could lose about 70% of its revenue through 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.
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