Ajarova, was speaking on February 06th 2020 at one of the knowledge seminars at the just concluded Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE) 2020 at the lakeside Commonwealth Resort, Munyonyo in Kampala.
The Expo attracted over 300 tourism business leaders and entrepreneurs from over 20 countries and 4 continents- including Uganda. These included over 57 international hosted buyers, 140 domestic and regional tourism operators as well as international and domestic media. Several Members of Parliament and government leaders in ministries, departments and agencies also attended.
“Technology, innovations, digitalization and the rise of connected travelers presents opportunities to improve the experience of travelers especially the Millennials and Generation Z,” Ajarova, told a packed room.
Ajarova, who was speaking on the topic: “Emerging Trends in Tourism and Hospitality” said that technologies like artificial intelligence, data analytics and social media, presented opportunities to manage costs of operation, enhance operational efficiency while at the same time enhancing the customer experience, all of which are key elements in delivering competitiveness and better margins.”
“To be competitive as a tourism business you have to pick a sufficient digital or technology positioning strategy- decide how you want to deploy technology to benefit your businesses. One of the ways technology can help you is through the deployment of customer relationship solutions that allow you to collect and keep as much detail as possible about your customers that can in turn help you to generate customer insights and build customer profiles- including such small things like their birthdays, their anniversaries etc. in advance such that you are able to surprise them; make them feel unique. This also helps you to identify, anticipate and satisfy the needs of your customers, personalize customer experiences and serve them better,” she said.
Ms. Jean Byamugisha- the Executive Director of Uganda Hotel Owners Association (UHOA), Stephen Asiimwe, the former UTB CEO and David Gonahasa, the Founder and Managing Director of Roundbob.com- an online travel solution that lets clients compare and choose travel packages from travel companies across Africa, also spoke about various other trends.
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“Even God Cannot Save This Airline”: Uganda Airlines, Jenifer Bamuturaki, and the Reckoning of 2025Ajarova challenged Ugandan tour and travel companies to come alive to these shifting trends in travel markets, saying that the rise of the Asian middle class will see 30% of international travelers come from Asia by 2030. She also said that it is also projected that Africa will have up to a population of 1 billion people in the middle class by 2030.
“As you create your marketing and sustainability strategies, you need to think about where your next customers are going to come from,” she said.
She also said that sustainability was an emerging key trend in tourism with more and more travellers making values-based travelling decisions that pay more attention to eco-friendly destinations/facilities, healthy living lifestyle and ethical living.
“All these are cues for product development and positioning differentiators for tour businesses, she said.
The UTB Board Chairman, Hon Daudi Migereko, urged government to prioritise financing of the tourism sector saying that it has proven to have the fastest returns as well as a wider and deeper income distribution dividend to the population.
“We are taking about financing all sorts of things- we are waiting for oil. The money in tourism will come back almost immediately. Trust us with your investment and we will be able to register very good returns. Sustainability will never be an issue; the countries that have settled for tourism have not regretted. That is why even Saudi Arabia with all the oil is now talking tourism,” he said.
