As part of its continued effort to empower Ugandans through Information Communication Technology (ICT), and following the success of the past Vodafone Power Talks editions, Vodafone Uganda, a leading telecommunications company, has announced that it will hold its fifth edition of its empowerment forum under the theme, “Leveraging Technology in Tourism: Lessons for Uganda”, on July 28, 2016 at the Kampala Serena Hotel.
According to Vodafone Uganda’s Chief Executive Officer Allan Richardson, the fifth edition of the Vodafone Power Talks will feature success stories from the East African region, and also focus on identifying new and better digital marketing platforms that can be adopted by various players in the tourism and hospitality industry to boost both the country’s image and deliver better investment returns for their businesses.
“Uganda is fast becoming a leading tourism destination and the progressive SMEs involved in this space will have to be more innovative in the way they use technology to redesign tourism products to address individual needs, satisfy consumer wants and grow their businesses,” says Allan Richardson.
“There are a lot of lessons we can learn from the region and I am confident that our experienced panelists will be sharing exciting ideas and insights during this forum,” he added.
With technology, the world has turned into a global village and the internet has fast become the universal source of information for billions of people. This quarterly forum is designed to inspire Ugandans to harness the transformative power of technologies for growth at individual and business level.
The panelists for this edition include; Steven Asiimwe, the Executive Director Uganda Tourism Board, Amos Wekesa, the Director of Great Lakes Africa Safaris, Kelley McTavish, the Executive Director of Pearl of Africa Tours, Belinda Namutebi, the iBrand Chief Brand Custodian, Phillip Kalibwami, the Director of Pearl Guide and Rosette Chantal Rugamba, the founder and Managing Director of Songa Africa based in Rwanda.
All delegates participating in the forum will be entered into a raffle draw with the chance to win a return ticket to Abu Dhabi, where the winner will experience the warmth of traditional Arabian hospitality, courtesy of Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates.
Recently, Uganda was named the second best honeymoon destination by the Huffington Post, a globally recognized online blog and news aggregator, hinting at the global attention that the country has received over the past few years leading to a booming market.
According to recent National Budget revelations, tourism contributes US$ 2.5 billion to Uganda’s GDP and approximately USD 1.5 billion in foreign exchange earnings annually. This translates to 9% of national output and 26% of export earnings.
The forum is expected to attract over 250 SME entrepreneurs, managers and ICT enthusiasts from mainly the tourism and hospitality industry and others including; aviation, media, health and cultural attachés.