BRAND UGANDA; THE BEST KEPT SECRET

[Francois Pariseau]

Ask anyone around the world where Uganda is and I bet you that 95% of people will have a problem telling you it is in East Africa. Most Americans won’t have a clue, they hardly can tell where the UK or Canada is although they’re their main trading partners; as for Europeans and some Asians they’ll know it’s in Africa and that’s pretty much it. Speaking with foreigners, local Ugandans and people involved in tourism in Kampala they’ll all tell you that Uganda is the best kept secret.
UGANDA HOUSE
On a recent trip to the UK I stopped at Uganda House in London to see what visitors could learn about the country while preparing for a trip to the Pearl of Africa. Uganda House is located in what is probably one of the most prestigious real estate areas in London, if not the world. The building it occupies is gorgeous and sumptuous. Unfortunately as the visitors step inside, the charm is broken. The walls need a coat of fresh paint, there is no one to answer your questions and the brochures are randomly scattered around and of poor quality. Unfortunately it represents very poorly a country where people are friendly and welcoming, where culture is visible everywhere, tourism infrastructure is good and nature, breathtaking. Uganda House should be the Flagship of Uganda. In retail, brands like Gucci, Armani, Prada and even Gap and Abercrombie to name a few have these outstanding shops on 5th avenue in New York, Bond Street in London and other High Streets throughout the world where they invest massively to promote their image. Uganda House has the potential to be this window promoting how fantastic the country is and what it has to offer. And it wouldn’t take a huge investment to upgrade this spectacular venue: a coat of paint, good lighting and some great photo work, well displayed on the wall; local art and artifacts and two tourism interns to greet you. It could be where some award winning artist displays his or her paintings. Journalists could be invited to exhibitions and special events promoting Uganda in the media. Uganda House should be a reflection of what Uganda is and the British, some of the most well traveled people in the world, are a great audience to invest in.
VISITUGANDA.COM
Today most people entertaining the idea of a holiday start their research on the Internet and like all tourist boards in the world; Uganda Tourism has its site. If you go to the tourism site of Kenya, magicalkenya.com, or even the Tanzanian Tourist Board site at tanzaniatouristboard.com, you’ll notice that Uganda can learn a few tricks from its neighbors. First the website is covered with spelling mistakes and typos, a very unprofessional way to promote and present a country. The good news is that it can be changed at hardly any cost. Second some of the information is outdated, some is just plain wrong and some of the places listed don’t exist anymore. Imagine an airline promoting a destination that it doesn’t serve anymore or an appliance shop announcing a cooker that’s out of stock; it can only lead to disappointment on the customer’s side; an unfulfilled promise. A website is the greatest, least expensive way of promoting a country to visitors but it must be updated and dynamic to ensure relevance and inspire.
Another easy and inexpensive element related to the web is the opportunity to generate a database. People browsing through visituganda .com should be asked if they need more information or are interested in receiving further information about the country. In that way Tourism Uganda could communicate directly with future visitors, send them regular updates about sights, events and cultural events happening throughout Uganda. Regular communication creates a relationship and people that visit visituganda.com must have has an interest to be on the site in the first place. Through the creation of a database of interested parties Uganda could promote itself at a very low cost. All it needs is an e-mail server and a quarterly newsletter. Direct Marketing is known to have one of the highest returns on investment of any other forms of communication.
MORE THAN GORILLAS AND PRIMATES
Gorillas are definitely the most amazing gem in Uganda but fewer than 50 permits are issued daily. The whole tourism industry can’t be built on primates alone and Uganda has so much more to propose. It’s a bit like an empty shop or a shop that only shows its more spectacular item and keeps the rest of its products in the storeroom. Uganda has so much to offer to a wide variety of tourists, adventure seekers, nature lovers and more. A trip to Jinja will take you water rafting, quad biking, horseback riding, kayaking, mountain biking and more. If you go to the Parks you’ll see zebra, lions, elephants, hippos, monkeys and more. Throughout the country accommodations cater to different type of travelers, you can either camp or stay in some of the most beautiful lodges in Africa. Birdwatchers should be in heaven since hundreds of species can be found here. And we haven’t started to discuss Lake Victoria and all that one can do around it.
Uganda has so much to offer to a wide range of visitors seeking different experiences. It’s time for the Pearl of Africa to come out of its shell and promote its brand, its products and its unbelievably friendly people as well as the safe environment and good infrastructure. The best kept secret needs to come out and be marketed properly providing hundreds of jobs and millions in revenue to the government and Uganda. And there is no need to be extravagant. A first phase should concentrate on correcting the mistakes on the website, refreshing Uganda House in London and designing high-quality collateral material that reflects the diversity of activities available in Uganda. A second phase would bring the website up to speed with neighboring countries; it would also allow database collection and the development of a quarterly newsletter send to interested people who subscribed online. Finally the third phase would concentrate on ensuring that the country has a booth promoting Uganda Tourism in its entirety and bring media, tour operators and other tourism leaders to visit the country.