Joined: 05 Oct 2005
Posts: 315
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Uganda has lost out on the Chance to host the 2006 Miss Tourism World finals. Mr. Kevin Zziwa the national director of Miss Tourism World Uganda purports that Government bureaucracy, red tape and apathy to the unique idea cost Uganda the chance to showcase its tourism potential to a worldwide audience.
South Africa swiftly grasped the opportunity after Uganda continued to drag its feet. KwaZulu Natal in South Africa will host the Miss Tourism World finals on 30 September 2006. Unlike tourism exhibitions where different countries have stalls with almost the same product, in the Miss Tourism World, all attention is focused on the host country to over one billion television viewers world wide and streamed live over the internet to 650 million viewers. The president of the Miss Tourism World, Mr. John Singh, visited Uganda in January this year and held a meeting with the permanent secretary, key tourism officials in the ministry, Mr. James Bahinguza the general manager of UTB and members of the private sector. Discussions between the Miss Tourism World based in Nottingham in the United Kingdom and Government commenced in the last quarter of 2005. Zziwa forwarded the Miss Tourism World proposal to President Yoweri Museveni through his principal private secretary Ms. Amelia Kyambadde last year. From the President’s office, the proposal was sent to Mr. Daudi Migereko, the minister of tourism, trade and industry who then gave it to his permanent secretary, Dr. Sam Nahamya for evaluation, justification and discussion with other stakeholders. The Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) also got a copy of the proposal for perusal. Scam? Some members in the meeting were sceptical about the authenticity of the Miss Tourism World organisers and feared that it was a scam. Singh told the permanent secretary and members of the private sector that in February 2005, the Miss Tourism World finals were successfully held in Harare, Zimbabwe. At the January 27 meeting, which Business Week attended, the permanent secretary said that the ministry of finance, planning and economic development had already passed the 2006 budget and there was little chance of obtaining the US$2.6million (about £1.5m) fee that needs to be paid by the host country to the Miss Tourism World organisation. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe paid $3.5million (about £2m ) to stage the event. Due to the amount of publicity generated, tourist arrivals shot up by 30% in the first quarter alone from 349,121 to 452,111 arrivals according to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. This was contained in a newspaper article in The Herald newspaper of Zimbabwe. The event also boosted Zimbabwe’s foreign exchange earnings from $60m in the first quarter of 2005 to $150m over the same period in 2006. He advised the permanent secretary to consult with his counterpart in Zimbabwe to dispel any fears related to the Miss Tourism World. The permanent secretary said he would do the necessary consultations since he had prior plans of travelling to Zimbabwe on Government duty. The tourism event provides multiple advantages to the host country. Some of the benefits the host country of Miss Tourism World finals will accrue are worldwide television coverage of the country’s tourist attractions, boost to the tour, travel and hotel industry, exclusive use of the host country’s national airline carrier for the 100 beauty contestants and organisers, increased sales in the craft industry and purchase of broadcasting rights by leading worldwide TV stations. It is estimated that $5m (£3m) is the immediate direct monetary benefits from air flights, hotel accommodation, media and upkeep for contestants and organisers. In addition to foreign exchange, the Miss Tourism World in the UK will open up an account in one of the local banks for financial transactions. The Miss Tourism World company also owns five other franchises; Miss Tourism Europe, Miss Bikini Europe, Model of Europe, Mr. Tourism World, Mr. Model of the World and Miss Great Britain. Neighbouring Tanzania is to host the Miss Tourism Model of the world finals to be held at the prestigious Kundichi Beach Resort hotel in Tanzania on March 11. The Tanzanian Government paid the host fee of $2.6million (about £1.5m) and is presently taking the beauty queens from different countries to the various tourist attractions. During the competition, participants and crew stay in the host country for one month. The tourism finals are the climax event. Mr. Gideon Chipungahelo, the national director of the Miss Tourism World Tanzania told Business Week that the event will be beamed on Television ya Taifa (TVT). He said Tanzania stands to benefit up to $12m in both the short and medium term. Uganda should pick a cue from Tanzania to aggressively market its tourism potential. In September last year, the Ugandan Government clinched a $1m advertising deal with CNN International. The deal got the blessing of President Museveni who took personal initiative to make it go through. In the 6 month advertising deal, Uganda was branded Gifted by Nature and had slots running during the Inside Africa commentary programme. Funds for the CNN deal were obtained from the European Union’s $5.9m Uganda Sustainable Tourist Development Program (UGSTDP) grant under the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry. The four-year grant expires this year. The Miss Tourism World team say Uganda will still be considered to host next year’s event that has Libya and other African countries in the queue. |
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