Uganda Government trains Hoteliers

As Uganda gets closer to the implementation of the East African Common Market in July, the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry has embarked on training hotelservice providers. “You are now part of the East African Community and you must compete. You can’t afford to continue sleeping,” the State Minister for Tourism, Mr. Serapio Rukundo, told hoteliers during the training recently.

The Countrywide Basic Skills Upgrade, initially focusing on up-country hospitality enterprises, kicked off in Iganga District at the beginning of this month and moved to Jinja in a venture expected to train district by district before the end of July.

This comes at a time when arguments are rife on whether countries like Uganda will survive the opening of regional boundaries particularly in regard to their competence in the hospitality industry, which is believed to be flooded with Kenyans especially in the top echelons. The initiative being executed in conjunction with the Hotel and Tourism Training Institution (HTTI) was inspired by major complaints enlisted at the ministry from tourists and local travelers in regard to the kind of services they receive in the industry.

According to HTTI’s Principal, Mzee Magino, very few hotels in Uganda have enough trained personnel. Despite having an enchanting wild life and tourism appeal, critics maintain that Uganda has always fallen short as far as customer care is concerned. This, according to Mr Rukundo, is the biggest challenge the industry is facing. “Time has come to catch up with the rest of the East African states like Kenya and Tanzania, which are deemed to be doing far much better than Uganda,” he said.

The upgrade is a constituent of a grand plan guided by the new Tourism Act meant to strengthen the industry, which will also see all non-conforming hotels and restaurants across the country closed. “We at the ministry have been sleeping. We shall close restaurants for failure to adhere to the new standards,” Mr Rukundo warned.

He said despite the recognition that the Ugandan citizenry is warm to outsiders; they are still lagging behind as far as the hospitality industry is concerned. “You must realise your customer is the only reason you have a job and you alone can sustain the tourism industry,” he said.