Uganda Hotels Industy Analysis. Position your Tourism business idea
On this page we shall take you through the Roots of the Uganda Hotels Industry,
The industry size and the distribution of Tourist accommodation in Uganda.
And demand numbers to help you estimate your market share.
You will aslo find a brief description about your stiffest competitors are in the Hotels Business Sector.
We have also highlighted for you some of the Uganda accommodation Industry Business Opportunities.
By the time you finish reviewing these pages,you will have some flesh on the Industy analysis section of your business plan and you will also have a better vision about where to positon your Uganda Hotels Business idea within the Sector.
Industry History
Uganda’s accommodation industry development was mainly tailored to the tourist industry and the greatest expansion of the industry occurred at the peak of the tourism industry in the mid and late 1960s.
Tourist geared accommodation developed along the ‘southern tourist circuit’ from the two international entry points at Entebbe Airport with Lake Victoria Hotel and Rock Hotel at the Kenya-Uganda border at Tororo.
The circuit continued through Jinja with Owen Falls Dam and Source of the Nile attractions, through Kampala, Masaka, Mbarara to the Kigezi Highlands centered on White Horse Inn at Kabale.
The circuit further extended southwest to Kasese with the Mweya Safari Lodge and Magherita Hotel at Kasese serving the game rich Queen Elizabeth National Park and ending at Fort Portal on the foot of the ‘Mountains of the Moon’, Rwenzori.
Kampala provided the radiation and transit center to further reach these two major circuits as well as having tourist attractions of its own.
The development of Tourist accommodation in Uganda was spearheaded initially by Government under the Uganda Development Corporation.
Later, the various government owned facilites were run under the Uganda Hotels Corporation.
Private participation in the sector was very limited until the post 1986 era. With the privatization process, these hotels have been sold off to private investors,like you, who have undertaken major renovations and upgrading of these facilities. At the same time private companies have also invested heavily in building new hotels, resorts, lodges and other tourist accommodation.
Where to Find Uganda Tourist Accommodation
Almost 80% of the accommodation of tourist standard is concentrated in and around Kampala, with 430 beds being distributed among the various up-country tourist zones. Initially, most of the hotel accommodation facilities in Uganda were under a government owned parastatal, Uganda Hotels Limited but all have been privatized.
The Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry in its Integrated Tourism Development Master Plan, recognizes the need to create additional capacity, particularly in the National Parks.
Almost 80 percent of the accommodation of tourist standard is concentrated in and around Kampala, with 430 beds being distributed among the various up country tourist zones. The Sheraton Kampala, Serena(Former Nile Hotel International) ,Speke Resort Munyonyo, Imperial Resort Beach Entebbe, Imperial Royale , Grand Imperial , Equatorial and Africana Hotel are some of the key Tourist accommodation facilities in Uganda, offering Four(4)to Five(5) star services.
Many smaller but modern tourist accommodation facilities have also been set up,to cope with the growing demand for cheaper but decent accommodation.
Demand Estimates
In the three(3) to Five(5) star hotel category, there is an almost 50% bed capacity deficit. Given the present and anticipated hotel bed capacity demand growth, a supply response is necessary to harness this market. Average annual occupancy levels at the leading hotels are over 60% per annum and are expected to rise even more with the increasing numbers of tourist arrivals.
Your competition
We have given you a brief description of tourist accommodation in Uganda on the following links:
- Selected Uganda Hotels
- Cheap Uganda Tourist Accommodation in Kampala.
- Cheap Tourist Accommodation in Entebbe
- Jinja Tourist Accommodation
- Northern Uganda Tourist Accommodation
These are likely to be your stiffest competitors for your Uganda Hotel Business Idea. However, the're still niches within the Uganda tourism accommodation industry where you can lead. Some of them include the Serviced apartments and Conference facilities which we have described briefly below.
Business Opportunities among Uganda Apartments
We have only a handfull of serviced apartments in Uganda located within Kampala City. These offer both daily and monthly accommodation at fairly cheaper rates than traditional hotel accommodation facilities.
You can still find Tourism Investment Opportunities in this area.
Investment Opportunities in the Conferences and Incentives Travel Sub-Sector
Although Uganda’s natural resource endowment favours the promotion of resource based tourist packages, there is a risk in overly relying on natural resources alone. The non-resource based tourist market is also growing significantly and should be targeted as a means to diversify Uganda’s tourist appeal.
Studies show that on average business travelers stay twice as long and spend three times as much as regular tourists. This points to the potential attractiveness of the conferences and incentives travel sector as a tourist product.
Currently, the regional conference and incentive travel sector is dominated by Zimbabwe, South Africa and to a lesser extent Ethiopia and Kenya.
On the whole,however, the international conference market is still largely underserved in this part of the world.
Uganda is presently constrained by lack of adequate facilities both in terms of accommodation and also in terms of event and exhibition facilities. The country does not have a single recognized exhibition center of international standards. The Serena International Conference Centre is the only existing facility of its kind, with other facilities like the Sheraton, Imperial Resort Beach Entebbe, and Speke Resort- Munyonyo offering smaller facilities.
Currently the main center for conferences is the Serena International Conference Centre. The main conference room can accommodate up to 1,700 delegates and three committee rooms each with capacities for 200 people. Another room, specially for press conferences, will hold between 50 and 70 journalists. Simultaneous translation services are provided. There is space for exhibitions, a document center and 20 well-equipped offices, as well as a business bureau, foreign exchange desk, and a duty free shop.
Other major hotels in both Kampala and Entebbe have facilities for meetings and conferences of up to 450 delegates while several of the larger lodges provide an ideal setting for a ‘meeting in the bush.’
Another existing facility is the Nelson Mandela Stadium at Nambole. This 40,000-seater stadium is a 17 potential venue for international music and entertainment festivals.
The opportunities in this area for you, a business Traveler, include the establishment of world-class accommodation and exhibition facilities that can attract major international conferences and events, the establishment of event planning operations/companies to run such events etc...
Find more information about Investing in the Uganda Tourism Industry on this Link...