Holiday in Hell...
Terror, rebels and robberies: Tourism in East Africa is an important factor of income. But it is a badly tainted image the three countries put in front of the tourist
By Mai Rasmussen10. April 2005
We are leading a life in constant danger. Haven’t you noticed? That might be because you are not a tourist preparing your trip to East Africa by visiting the homepage of the US Department of State. There, things like this appear:
“The Department of State believes there remains the threat of future terrorist attacks in East Africa ”.
The official Danish travel advisory goes by the same line, also warning about highway robbery, assaults, and car jacking.
No wonder there’s always a free sun chair on the Zanzibar beaches, and that a game drive in Uganda’s Murchison Falls National Park is usually done in solitude – apart from the game, obviously.
“We have raised our voice internationally for Third World countries to have a say when the advisories are put in place or reviewed. But the arrogance of the Westerners is so that they don’t care. The same governments give us funding for advertising our countries, and then withdraw the effect with such warnings,” says James Bahinguza, General Manager of Uganda Tourist Board.
With the bombings of the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in August 1998, the tourist industry was hit hard. Plain crime and Uganda’s brutal rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army add to the regional malice. According to the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), East Africa has lost 10% of its market share in the African region from 1995 to 2002.
Tourists in a war zone
Turning that kind of tide is difficult. But the governments and tourism industry try and try again. As a regional initiative linked to the East African Community, one common landing card for people arriving to Uganda, Kenya, or Tanzania was introduced in March, and it’s agreed that a common visa for foreigners should be implemented. Regional promotion is also part of the plan.
“Wildlife will continue to play its role. We are blessed to be the national zoos for the rest of the world,” says James Bahinguza from Uganda Tourist Board.
The two buzzwords of the day are, however, ecoturism and adventure. While the first one puts emphasis on exploring nature and culture consciously, the latter highlights river rafting, mountaineering and other sports that make the heart jump.Mai Rasmussen is MS Uganda's information officer
