Uganda tourism budget news – Same Old, Same Old

WILL THE NEW BUDGET CHANGE THINGS FOR UGANDA TOURISM

Tourism stakeholders are not holding their breath and neither does the Uganda Tourist Board, when asked about the forthcoming annual budget speech soon expected to be read to the newly constituted parliament.

Ministers are being sworn in today at  State House Entebbe, making the appointments by President Museveni legal and final, albeit not some 6 who were thrown out by the parliamentary vetting committee over a range of issues concerning academic qualifications as well as ethical concerns.

The swearing in of Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu as Minister of Tourism will fulfill at least in part the demands made by tourism stakeholders over many years, but it is only one step in to the right direction to give the tourism industry their rightful place, in cabinet and across the national economy and its driving institutions.

No change is expected in the amount of funds set aside for the tourism sector, and from the available budget a new stand alone ministry has to be created first now that the split from Trade and Industry has finally become reality. Yet, budget allocations leaked to this correspondent for the Uganda Tourist Board confirm the worst fears, that inspite of evidence submitted to the powers that be, how added funding has catapulted the Kenyan and Rwandan tourism sectors sky high in their performances, this does not seem to sink into the heads of finance ministry bureaucrats who still thing ‘tourism happens’, which of course it does not, as no sector of the economy just ‘happens’.

A billion Kenya Shilling budget for KTB last year and a lot more for flanking measures like recapitalizing the Kenya Tourist Development Corporation – something Uganda sorely lacks – have made an impact around the world in terms of marketing abilities for KTB and the record year 2010, Kenya is well enroute to turn 2011 into another record breaker, should make it clear for all to see that the more you put into the sector and facilitate global marketing in existing, emerging and new markets the better the sector performs overall with all the positive fallout, added jobs on the fast track, added investments both FDI and domestic, added foreign exchange earnings and added visibility in a global market place which generally helps the destination to overcome the gutter press suggestions in recent weeks that ‘The Pearl of Africa’ had descended into chaos and is ruled by a dictatorship, which are of course utter lies by propagandists.

Uganda has a tourism potential hardly touched and is unique in many ways even considering the immense biodiversity and tourism opportunities East Africa as a whole offers to visitors.

The country’s lakes and rivers, mountains and forests, birdlife and wildlife, our cultures and heritage are all winners in their own rights but until UTB gets the funds to tell the world and show the world by being present at as many tourism trade shows across the globe as possible, strike alliances with airlines and for twin centre holidays with complementary destinations like the Seychelles and create and maintain a state of the art and proactive presence on the Web this is not about to happen. Presently the Uganda Tourist Board barely makes ends meet to pay for recurrent expenditures leaving little left for promotions and almost nothing for product research and development which could spur an entire new branch of opportunities for investments and new jobs in the country.

Still my message to my erstwhile colleagues is not to despair and try again and harder to reach the powers that be with facts and figures, demonstrating how our neighbours are cleaning up ‘our plates’ because they invest a whole lot more into tourism future than we do here in Uganda, and talk to the new Minister of Finance, who comes with a wealth of experience from the private sector, and tell her what needs to be done and what the returns will be from such an investment – and 2012 / 13 might be an entirely different story then.

 

Kenya aviation breaking news – Government to ‘defend’ their KQ shareholding

KENYA GOVERNMENT TO ‘DEFEND’ THEIR STAKE IN KENYA AIRWAYS

Information was received from usually well informed circles in Nairobi that the government will during the upcoming additional share issue by Kenya’s national airline be defending their 23 percent shareholding in the publicly listed and traded company and underwrite their share options in full.

Kenya Airways was privatized in 1996 and has since then not raised its capital, now however thought to be essential to provide the company with the financial resources and strength to finance and acquire additional aircraft and roll out its network expansion as internal strategy papers suggest it should.

Kenya Airways remains an example of a successful airline privatization and shares are now traded across the entire region with over 75.000 institutional and individual shareholders on the company register. KQ has largely posted profits since it was ‘sold’ but for the extremely difficult years during the global economic and financial crisis, when the world’s aviation industry sank into unprecedented depths of losses not seen since 9/11 had turned airline accounts into scarlet red reading material.

During privatization, incidentally spearheaded by British Airways Speedwing Consulting, KLM at the time emerged as the most potent bidder and subsequently acquired a 26 percent stake before taking ‘the Pride of Africa’ on an unprecedented journey of success.

However, the initial KLM management team and subsequent managers then chosen have since made way for a largely Kenyan team at the helm, presently headed by Dr. Titus Naikuni, who have done Kenya and Africa proud by continuing the success stories written by their predecessors since 1996 and being living evidence that privatization, when done smartly, can actually work and bring about huge benefits.

The Kenyan government’s decision to fully take up their share entitlement will cost them nearly 60 million US Dollars but is thought to be a strategic investment – incidentally a profitable one considering the financial returns through dividends – aimed to cement Nairobi’s regional superiority as THE leading East African aviation hub. As reported here in the past in related articles, Kenya Airways’ hub airport of Nairobi is currently undergoing expansion and modernization and it is understood from usually reliable sources that this will include a dedicated new terminal for Kenya Airways and their Sky Team alliance partners alongside a second runway, which will boost Nairobi’s standing as a fully functional twin runway airport and create capacity for more airlines to commence flights to Kenya. Primary targets here are carriers from the Far and South East but also from North America where commercial demands are now gaining the upper hand over obscure aviation safety issues past American administrations had with Kenyan airports.

Meanwhile though is the immediate financial future for Kenya Airways looking stronger than ever before and this correspondent in particular is always happy to walk on the red carpet when flying with ‘the Pride of Africa’ – taking me places.

 

Tanzania aviation news update – Is Kenya Airways set for Kilimanjaro flights?

KENYA AIRWAYS SET FOR KILIMANJARO FLIGHTS?

Aviation circles in Tanzania are speculating intensely over Kenya Airways’ plans to include direct flights between their Nairobi hub and Kilimanjaro International between Moshi and Arusha, a route so far served exclusively by KQ’s Tanzanian partner airline Precision Air with ATR aircraft.

These flights are operated under a full code share arrangement which has been benefitting both airlines as they were building up their respective fleets.

The arrival of more Embraer jets however, only last week was another E190 received by Kenya Airways from the factory in Brazil, now opens up additional options for Kenya Airways to consider operating their own flights between NBO and JRO, again codesharing them with Precision Air.

The Embraers have become a regular feature on the regional routes and the 2-2 seating in the economy class, and the wider 2-2 seating in the business class section have been fully accepted by KQ’s faithful travelers from the East African region. The smaller E170 version of the Embraers flying for ‘the Pride of Africa’ may therefore well be deployed in the not too distant future to Kilimanjaro, cutting flying time to just about half an hour and giving passengers enroute spectacular views of Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain.

Watch this space.