The Tourism Expo held in Jinja has been a big flop. Only ten exhibitors participated in the Tourism Expo that has been on for a whole week compared to 50 who participated last year.
Exhibitors blame the poor attendance to poor organization and mobilization by the organizers Uganda Tourism board and Jinja Municipality.
Godfrey Kakembo, the UTL business manager says that the expo didn't attract much attention from members of the public because of poor media publicity. He says that during the show only a handful of show goers visited the stalls of the exhibitors saying there was no value for money.
Joe Omwella Inziano, Deputy General manager Collin says that the lack of mass sensitization greatly affected the Tourism expo. Inziano says that the show organizers should have given first priority to media publicity at every stage of preparation for the tourism expo to attract the local residents.
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Patel Neleesh, a restaurant manager at Fairway hotel advises the organizers to pick lessons from organizers of similar expos from neighboring countries.
He says that other countries advertise through various mediums including the internet to attract international tourists.
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Simon Kaita, Jinja Tourism Officer blames the entire mess on the little funds his office was allocated to organize the expo. Kaita says that his office was only allocated shillings 400,000 for the tourism expo.
He says that the money was not enough to clean Jinja Municipality, beautify the town, mobilize and sensitize residents on the expo.
Safie Ali, Marketing and Information officer Uganda Tourism Board says the poor turn up for the expo has not gone down well for the tourism industry in Uganda. She says the exhibitors failed to turn up at the last minute.
He says all exhibitors from Northern and Western Uganda did not turn up yet they would have given a big boost to the exhibition.
Aldon Walukamba
Freelancer