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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Hoteliers in Uganda are set to focus on online marketing and training to boost customer experience and hit huge profits in the year 2023, Jean Byamugisha the Chief Executive Director of the Uganda Hotel Owner’s Association has said.
Byamugisha says that 2023 is gearing up to be a great year for tourism – thus presenting opportunities for players. Byamugisha said, the hotel sector is officially out of the red zone and that many hotels are registering good performance.
The focus, for hoteliers now is more on online marketing, one of the latest emerging tech trends in the hospitality industry.
“We got a huge boost at the beginning of the year when Uganda was declared Ebola-free. Not only did it open up our economy once more to the countries that were treating us with caution but it also earned us a lot of kudos for the excellent and quick way in which it was handled,” Byamugisha said.
She added, “Most importantly from lessons learned during the pandemic, most of our hotels have adopted online operations right from booking and payment options to embracing new online marketing techniques.”
Davis Mugabi, the Operations Manager at Skyz Hotel said it is time for hotels to embrace technology like any other sector to remain relevant.
“The hospitality sector is extremely competitive, making it essential to keep up with the latest hospitality technology trends. New technology such as automation, mobile bookings, tech-empowered travel, virtual reality tours, and influencer marketing, among others are changing the hotel industry.
Meanwhile, Byamugisha said, the management is seeing how Artificial Intelligence-AI is taking over most jobs and now trying to future-proof the sector’s staff to ensure that they get the right online training to keep them relevant in an ever-changing industry.
