Kampala Uganda, 15th. 04. 2022: Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) in partnership with the private sector including Uganda Tourism Association (UTA) and Exchange VZW – a Belgian agency held a workshop at Nob View Hotel, Ntinda from 11th – 15th April 2022.
The objective of the workshop was to train hotel general managers under the umbrella body HOGMAU to acknowledge their significant role as ambassadors of the newly launched destination brand Explore Uganda – The Pearl of Africa by ensuring that they offer an ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME to both local and international tourists through; good customer care, quality service, proper hygiene, quality of room among others.
The HOGMAU training lies under the UTB Quality Assurance program and comes at a time when the board is preparing for the national grading and classification exercise. This training is part of the UTB mandate as a statutory organization established by the Uganda Tourism Act (2008) with the mandate among others; To enforce, and monitor standards in the Tourism sector, plus; To inspect, register, license and classify tourist facilities and services acknowledging the fact that hotels among other tourist accommodation facilities and places play a vital role in marketing Uganda as a preferred tourist destination as well as a competitive and attractive destination, although this comes with positioning especially on standards as key determinants for international tourists to make return trips and invites others.
UTB CEO Lilly Ajarova during the closing ceremony of the workshop highlighted that the board as the lead facilitator of this five days’ workshop has worked together with the private sector to support the training together with Exchange VZW to be able to have the quality of service that can position the Country as a competitive and most preferred tourist destination in the world following the launch of the new Explore Uganda – The Pearl of Africa brand in January this year.
She said, ‘’We have just rebranded the face of Uganda’s tourism under the newly launched destination brand Explore Uganda – The Pearl of Africa meaning, the variety, rare depth, sense of form and the range of the African continent is found in Uganda from nature, landscapes, diverse cultures to hosting 54% of the world’s remaining mountain gorilla population, source of River Nile, to the most delicious food on the continent, given all these, we are ready to host any visitors from any part of the world and make them believe that they can be able to have their interest met in Uganda as a cost-effective destination’’.
She added, ‘’the challenge we have is to improve the quality of service. As UTB we have partnered with the private sector including the hotel general managers association (HOGMAU) to offer a week’s training with experts from Europe. We do believe we are on the right track to be able to have the qualities of service improved to position ourselves as the most competitive and most preferred destination in the world. She added, ‘’as trends change we must refresh the thinking, the knowledge and skills of our people in the sector, we believe this will grow the tourism sector in Uganda, as hotel managers are responsible for overseeing the services of the hotels, their knowledge and skills are very critical in the level and quality of service being offered to each guest that visits the hotel facilities. UTB is partnering with international institutions to be able to bring that international quality training to our general managers’’.
In his remarks, HOGMAU President Mark Kirya added, ‘’this is the 2nd international training we are giving to our hotel general managers in the association. In this training, we have covered the international curriculum on international standards and quality assurance with training based on how to handle international tourism and hospitality, international marketing and communication, revenue management in the hotel sector, guest circle management, collaboration and partnerships both locally, regionally and internationally including engaging online travel agencies among others regardless of the hotel star rating and status’’.
About Uganda Tourism Board:
Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) is a statutory organization established in 1994. Its role and mandate was reviewed in the Tourism Act of 2008. The Board’s mandate is to promote and market Uganda across the region and internationally, promote quality assurance in tourist facilities through training, grading and classification, promote tourism investment, support, and act as a liaison for the private sector in tourism development. The broader goals of the Board are to increase the contribution of tourism earnings and GDP, improve Uganda’s competitiveness as an international tourism destination and increase Uganda’s share of Africa’s and the World tourism market. UTB aims to create inclusive opportunities for the tourism sector through market transformation.
For more information contact;
Public Relations Office
Uganda Tourism Board
Email: publicrelations@utb.go.ug
Web: www.exploreuganda.com