WILL UGANDA ATTRACT CHINESE TOURISTS?

Whereas Uganda is credited for its exceptional wildlife and adventure safaris, it has been sighted that for most safaris in the country, rarely can one find a Chinese tourist but the largest number comes mainly for business or because of migration issues. And this is different from what the UN World Tourism Organization indicates that china has been the prime outbound tourism market since 2012. In 20016, Chinese outbound travelers hiked to over 135 million spending a whopping $261 billion.

The Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), the responsible body for marketing Uganda tourist attractions has set forth a strong marketing campaign to lure most Chinese into the country. UTB in this struggle hosted the Vice President and the secretary general of the Guangdong provincial tourism association-Li Jinamo in the strive to create way forward in Uganda’s attempts to lure Chinese holiday makers to par take tours in Uganda’s magnificent destinations. China features more than 1.3 billion people while the province of Guangdong has over 100,000,000 people about thrice Uganda’s population. The Executive Director of UTB appreciated that China has the largest population of outbound tourists in the entire world.

The Uganda Tourism Board in an attempt to fulfill the key tourism objective of boosting the number of international tourists’ par taking tours in Uganda from 1.3 million in 2014 by 50 percent to 1.8 percent in 2016, embarked in engaging in the China International Tourism Mart (CITM) along with the Guangzhou based Ugandan consulate. The Ethiopian Airways provided a free Uganda ticket that was won by Mr. Li Jinamo in the Uganda Night Event. A popularization safari was then arranged by Uganda Tourism Board to help him discover the real Uganda in depth. The step towards luring Chinese to Uganda is sighted as positive move in improving Uganda tour arrivals. Uganda should therefore work towards boosting linkages and that Uganda and the China governments can work towards commencing direct flights between Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport and the China’s province of Guangdong. Currently, there are 4 airline companies that connect Uganda and China. Mr. Li Jinamo kept on sighting that Uganda still has bad roads and the language barrier factor which is worth considering. UTB and Chinese have no direct language connection and it was proposed that it would be better if the media in Guangdong is invited to write more about the Uganda’s spectacular tourist attractions that can be viewed by Chinese while on tour in Uganda. With this engagement sighted some hope of luring more than 2000 Chinese companies that are members of the association.

Uganda is undoubtedly a natural wonder! It is credited for its spectacular and rare mountain gorillas that make up the hugest population out of the total population in the world. 

THE MOUNTAIN GORILLAS

For interested tourists, Uganda has two incredible areas for you to realize your dreams and these include Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Southwestern part of the country. These feature 12 habituated gorilla groups that set for tourism and research. Besides, Uganda also offers refuge to the largest population of chimpanzees and there several spots where you can track these stunning creatures in the wild some of which include Kibale Forest National Park which offers refuge to over 1500 chimpanzees that makes up the 13 distinct primate species in the park. When it comes to wildlife safaris, Uganda’s remotest protected areas offers visitors that African wilderness that may not easily be attained anywhere else in the world. It is credited for the big game including the Cape Buffaloes, African Elephants, African Lions, Leopards and Rhinos. If you are interested in thrilling adventures, Uganda still remains as an adventure paradise especially in the Mighty River Nile where you can engage in Bungee jumping, white water rafting, Kayaking, Horse riding and many more. It also features unique butterflies, healing hot springs and spectacular landscape with exceptional flora for you to catch a glimpse.

The biggest challenge remains questionable that how will Uganda’s tourist potential lure the Chinese tourists? Kenya has realized an increase in Chinese tourist with direct flights between Guangzhou and Nairobi. It is sighted that Chinese arrivals to Morocco increased to 450 percent while in Tunisia in Tunisia to about 250 percent in the first half of this year due to visa exemptions for Chinese visitors.

To lure this, marketing strategies in the sector will differ. Chinese tourists may not easily be lured through Facebook, Instagram post. Most of the social media platforms including snapchat, pinterest, WhatsApp, Google may not be accessible in China. This gives Uganda another task to review her marketing strategy in order to tap the Chinese market and mainly focus on millennial groups from 16 to 26 years since they are more likely to copy with conservation attempts.

In conclusion, Uganda has several natural resources that are untapped and this is requires vigorous marketing to lure several tourists within and across borders to come and exploit them.