East Africa bags UNWTO Excellence Award

January 25, 2016 in Business, Foreign News, Travel & Tourism by Editor

KAMPALA, JANUARY 25- The Uganda Tourism Board UTB and its regional partners got global recognition last Wednesday when the East Africa Tourism Platform was voted first runner-up at the 12^th edition of the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism.

In a media release yesterday, the UTB says the East Africa Tourism Platform (EATP), an organisation of the region’s tourism stakeholders, was recognised for developing a multi-destination knowledge management tool during the awards ceremony held in Madrid, Spain on January 20, beating 107 other contenders to the prize. The UNWTO Awards ceremony marked the peak of the Madrid International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR / IFEMA) where Uganda was represented.

Competition for the award was stiff with 109 submissions from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe out of which 17 finalists were selected. The award recognizes initiatives that are highly innovative and managed by a public or public-private institution that reflects tangible and sustainable improvements in policy, processes, and governance. EATP won for its multi-destination knowledge management tool that helps stakeholders’ package tourism products without borders.

EATP is made up of tourism players from the East Africa region among them Uganda Tourism Board, Burundi National Tourism Office, Kenya Tourism Board, Rwanda Development Board, and the Tanzania Tourist Board.

“We are one people, but with a rich cultural diversity that needs to be tapped and harnessed for the benefit of developing tourism and our economies at large,” said Carmen Nibigira, the EATP Regional Co-ordinator, after receiving the award on behalf of the five East African countries.

“Through this tool, regional tourism stakeholders have started trading each other’s products, packaging tourism products without borders, bench-marking among themselves and learning from each other,” added Ms Nibigira.

“EATP was very instrumental in advocating for East Africa’s single tourist visa which is now used between Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda,” says Stephen Asiimwe, the CEO of the Uganda Tourism Board.
He added that through the same platform the three nations now allow their citizens to use national IDs as travel documents for citizens, free movement of tourism services, and joint marketing initiatives which run alongside the national marketing efforts.

Mr. Asiimwe adds that on the marketing front, East Africa is now holding joint marketing initiatives, with the first for 2016 being the ITB Berlin tourism expo that runs from 9-13 March in Berlin Germany. At least 18 Uganda tour operators and organisations will be attending the expo this year.