UGANDA (eTN) – As the Association of Uganda Tour Operators (AUTO) marks twenty years of existence, a series of activities have been planned to leading up to the end-of-year grand celebrations in December.
Dubbed “AUTO@20,” the association launched the celebrations during this year’s World Tourism Day at a low-key event at 291 suites in Lira town and a football match between a mercenary outfit of tour operators and the Lango region tourism cluster, resulting in a 2-to-1 win for the tour operators.
Steering Committee Chairman Brian Mugume announced that other activities have been earmarked for the celebrations, including participation in radio and television talk shows, school outreach programs, familiarization visits to tourism sites, mentorship on career guidance to tourism students and Wildlife Clubs, and tree planting and environmental awareness campaigns.
During these outreach programs, students shall also have the chance to win familiarization trips to national parks and other attractions through quizzes.
AUTO Chairperson Babara Adoso Van Helleputte said the association will organize a public forum on October 27, 2015 at Fair Way Hotel Kampala, which is intended to discuss this year’s World Tourism Day Theme: One Billion Tourists, One Billion Opportunities. The forum will focus on the achievements, challenges, and opportunities that exist. Expected attendees include the private sector and government representatives in regards to the tourism sector.
The celebrations will be crowned with a Grand Dinner at the end of the year at Speke Resort Munyonyo, with expected guests from airlines, hotels, lodges, and other “A-listed” corporates including counterparts within the region.
As a memento of the anniversary, a souvenir magazine for AUTO@20 will be launched, highlighting achievements and challenges, social events, pictorials, and features from the telex age to the dot com age.
In line with this year’s theme of professionalizing the industry, AUTO recently embarked on developing a Strategic Plan through a United Nations Development Program/Uganda Tourism Board (UNDP/UTB) funded program. However, before the celebrations can even start, the association has to juggle issues at the macro level including convincing technocrats at the Ministry of Finance and Uganda Revenue Authority that tourism is indeed an invisible export and, therefore, qualifies for a zero rating on (Value Added Tax) VAT, contesting the Immigration Department’s hike in visa fees from US$50 to US$100, as well as representing the sector interests on commitments to the East African Community Common market and yet still try to stay afloat.
Through the Presidential Initiative for Sustainable Tourism in Uganda (PRESTO), the association has set up a team to lobby for a reprieve in high fees and taxes, which has forced several operators to downsize or go bust altogether.
The association recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with t he Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) which will boost the association’s coffers more than tenfold from a paltry US$10,000 ten years ago.
From humble beginnings with no secretariat, the AUTO badge is recognized as the major reference for the government of Uganda as well as travelers intending to book a safari to Uganda, and tourism has now taken its rightful place as one of the key sectors of the economy on the Presidential Round Table Forum.
Coincidentally, the Uganda Tourism Board also turns twenty this year, but any hopes of confetti, champagne, or braai on the spit to celebrate the anniversary of the first Tourism Board in the region are fast fading with only a couple of months left to the end of the year.
