TOURISM!
By Amos Wekesa
I was in Austin, Texas last month for a marketing trip being a member of American tour operator association!
Out of curiosity I asked American tour operators how many tourists they send to Kenya and Tanzania?
The first tour operator I asked said sent 50 tourists daily.
After she said I send 50 tourists daily throughout the year to Kenya, I asked how much does each pay for a safari, she said 6000 dollars!
Basic maths gave me 300k daily sent to Kenya and yes multiply by 365 days in a year! From one tour operator, let that sink in!
Meanwhile we were discussing business for 2025, 2023 and 2024 was already sold out!
How can you send at least 300 to uganda in a year, I ask her later during off time!
She said uganda is a very beautiful country but extremely hard sell .
Look right now the only news is Ebola.
She said Kenya as a country has a big marketing budget with representation here in the US!
Plus they have Kenya airways with a direct flight out of New York to Nairobi daily!
Kenya airways supports our efforts as American tour operators to sell Kenya as a destination!
She said if I book trips to Uganda for 2025, I don’t know which kind of news will come out of Uganda then!
You guys don’t know how to manage information, every country she adds has issues but you guys don’t know the value of wise communication!
Now you understand that even with our great potential, one big Kenyan tour operator can easily out compete all Ugandan tour operator almost combined in revenue!
You understand why masai Mara alone got 300k in 2019 and our 22 national parks and game reserves got 329k combined?
You also understand why an individual tour operator in uganda will push but be limited because there isn’t a national focus?
But you also see what we are missing as a country? You see why we borrow too much when we can avoid that or limited if we positioned Uganda?
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