Tourism sector players have been urged to re-invent their work methods if they are to thrive amid disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before Covid-19, Uganda’s tourism sector was registering a steady rise in foreign exchange from tourists. According to the Annual Tourism Sector Performance Report for Financial Year 2018/2019, revenue rose from $1.45 billion in 2017 to $1.6 billion in 2018. The tourism sector accounted for 7.7 per cent of the national gross domestic product and 6.7 per cent of total national employment through creating 667,600 jobs.
But the sector was intercepted as foreign tourists could not travel because of the travel bans of flights to various destinations last year. The new Covid-19 variant is another threat that is likely to worsen the situation amid the new restrictions.
But how can tourism thrive amidst the pandemic’s disruptions?
Experts say technology is key in positioning Uganda as a key tourism destination through using modern technologies such as augmented reality, Internet of Things (IoT), virtual assistants, big data, blockchain, and 5G.
Platforms such as Zoom have revolutionised conferencing and meetings. More advanced conference suite platforms have enabled the sector to participate in travel expenses.
Brian Namanya, the Chief Executive Officer and Founder at Tubayo, says currently their digital travel platform hosts 450 operators on the platform, a base they have grown within a space of two years.
Tubayo, one of the fastest-growing digital innovation, is an online travel marketplace for users to easily find fun trips and unique accommodation spaces in Africa.
Unlike other platforms that take on tourism operators who are well established in the market, Tubayo’s Founder understands that young operators starting out in the game may not always find it favorable to go through the rigorous and expensive process of legitimising their business.
With Tubayo, he chose to open the market to growing tourism operators and, in a way, offer them a chance to work alongside the big fish in the game.
“With our digital platform, a young tour operator is able to sell his “guiding” services and a tourist is able to have a diverse range of choices and experiences. On Tubayo.com, the young entrepreneurs in the tourism game do not only access customers or market their services, there are also nifty tools incorporated on the app like financial management tools,” Namanya said.
“Having been a player in the field for a while now, Namanya says that the difference between countries or destinations that are visited and those that are not, lies in online exposure. Digital innovation would smoothen out the process of finding information online while easing payments. All these things combined make tourism a pleasant experience and attract more revenue.”
The challenge so far in digitizing tourism has been the high internet costs and countering sceptics of digital tourism operators. The new 12 per cent excise duty slapped on data bundles will accelerate the high cost of internet.
Many people also still believe they need to get on the ground, do their own research and arrange their own travels. Namanya says that the solution to this is building trust online. He also believes that government investment into digital innovation will go a long way.
“There is no doubt about it, digital innovation is the future for the tourism industry. It will solve most of the problems plaguing the sector,” Namanya concluded.
In efforts to further transform the sector, The Innovation Village has put in place a relief and acceleration program that will equip entrepreneurs with knowledge that would enable them to rebuild their businesses or find innovative solutions to the rising problems emanating from the pandemic.
The accelerator program started last week with a six-day intensive program where the business model canvas was covered to equip the entrepreneurs with foundational knowledge that would enable them to track the growth of their businesses. This was supplemented by courses on innovation and human centered design to enable them turn their ideas into marketable innovations.
According to Rahman Kasujja, Venture Associate at The Innovation Village, a lot of young people who are operators in the tourism industry do this work as a hobby and enjoy the extra buck, so the goal of the accelerator program is to ensure that they can begin to see their hobbies as businesses that they can grow and scale.