Covid-19 left many sectors affected without exception of the tourism industry.
With hope to revive the sector, the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) will to host the 6th Pearl of Africa Tourism Annual Expo (POATE 2021) the first-ever virtual tourism expo on 27th to 29th of April 2021 under the theme: “Restarting Tourism for Regional Economic Development”
Claire Mugabi, the marketing manager at Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) expounds on POATE in an interview with this website.
POATE 2021 is expected to host more ‘hosted buyers’ (people that sell Uganda abroad) and exhibitors ( local tourism operators) although the previous POATE events also give more light to the event, where a gradual growth in exhibitors was registered from 63 exhibitors in 2018 to 150 exhibitors in 2019, and leveraging the power of the internet.
To participate in POATE 2021, you will need to register with UTB through a set of criteria that has been developed by the National organizing committee to ensure that you are on the good cause of showcasing what Uganda has to offer in terms of tourism and it is completely free of charge. The Hosted buyers and exhibitors will be sourced from the existing core and emerging source markets within the East African Region (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda), rest of Africa (Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa) and the international markets (North America, UK and Ireland, Germany speaking countries, Japan, Gulf states and China and the new markets of France, Belgium + Netherlands).
The Uganda Tourism Board has been organizing POATE, a tourism exposition annually for 5 years now aimed at bringing together domestic, regional and international tour operators, travel agents, destination agencies and various players in the tourism trade to network and facilitate tourism business across the globe but most of it all to sell Uganda to the world. However this year its going to be different and mainly virtual, the decision was not only informed and influenced by the unique physical and logistical challenges posed by Covid-19 and the associated limitations but also out of desire to leverage the internet to bring on board as many participants as possible.
A specialized virtual meeting platform has been designed to give participants a look and feel of the activities conducted in the expo, to allow allow them do things they used to do in the physical expos like exchanging cards, PowerPoint presentations, facilitate one-on-one meetings, virtual speed networking sessions as well as live conference sessions for domestic, regional and international tourism players, Claire said.
The virtual platform has unique abilities such as:
Directory Listings: This is similar to on-stand presentations- where exhibitors will be able to showcase their products and services in a variety of multimedia formats, including video, website links and e-brochures. For easy searchability and fundability, exhibitors can list their products and service categories.
1-On-1 Meetings: The meetings function within the platform will be exclusive to buyers, media and exhibitors only, and shall allow participants to connect with the highest level of travel trade industry professionals with direct purchasing power. Participants can create their attendee profile, adding products and regions they are interested to buy from. This will make it easy for exhibitors and other participants to quickly find and match contacts that suit their business needs.
Lead Generation: The virtual platform allows participants to remotely schedule individual thirty-minute video meetings and network with industry professionals. The system also allows several functionalities, such as the exchange of business cards, drawing up of draft contracts etc.
Choice Content Sessions: Participants will have a variety of live sessions, debates and forums from industry experts to choose from. A variety of topics from experts in key areas such as hotels, aviation, resilience, sustainability, and recovery in a post-COVID-19 world have all been lined up.
The increasing reduction of Covid-19 cases worldwide with over 350 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine being administered, according to the World Health Organisation is a ray of hope as preparation for the gradual recovery of the global regional tourism sector, POATE 2021 believes there is much it will contribute to the economy as Claire concluded such as;
Increased Destination Awareness: POATE 2021 will enable trade visitors and exhibitors to showcase and obtain the latest information on available tourism products from Uganda and the rest of the world.
Increased product knowledge: The expo will enable suppliers of tourism products to test the acceptance of these products in the post-covid-19 Ugandan market.
Enhanced Tourism Service Distribution: POATE 2021 will enable distributors of tourism products to interact with suppliers and distributors in the value chain to establish relationships necessary for business sustainability.
New Business Deals and Enhanced Private Sector Development: During POATE 2021, suppliers of tourism-related services and products will close and sign business deals through travel bookings on-spot. An estimated ROI of UGX 12.2 billion is expected in the subsequent financial years.
Relationship Building; POATE 2021 will present the opportunity for online networking by key stakeholders in the tourism industry; it will also provide a useful platform for stakeholders to explore co-operative exchanges and activities.
Uganda has been registered as the safest country to visit in regards to Covid-19 with so much tourism to show.
