This year’s world tourism day celebrations will be held in Guadalajara Mexico on 27th September 2014 under a theme “Tourism and community development” that looks at empowering local communities through tourism to achieve sustainable development all over the world. It was in September 1979 in Torremolinos, Spain when the third session of UNWTO general assembly decided to establish world tourism day beginning in 1980. It comes at the end of high season in the northern hemisphere and beginning of the season in the southern hemisphere.
Tourism today is at the forefront of the world’s most community development empowering sectors through implementing community based projects in order to enhance the well being of the local communities and conserve the environment. As the most widely celebrated global day for tourism, it represents a unique opportunity to highlight the steps taken so far by the international tourism to empower sustainable community development through tourism. The theme is also an opportunity to ensure that international tourism continues to play a role in tackling the major community-based tourism challenges of our time.
Clean community-based tourism solutions are bringing the sector’s poaching and encroachment acts down, protecting local environments and communities, creating jobs and economic opportunities. But more must be done. With International tourist arrivals growth by 5% in 2013 to 1.087 billion and international tourism generated US$ 1.4 trillion in export earnings,international tourist arrivals of between 4% and 4.5% are expected to travel in 2014, (UNWTO world tourism barometer report 2014).
As we are celebrating world tourism day, Tourism plays an increasingly vital role in developing communities in Uganda. These include both tangible benefits like job creation, revenue and less tangible like quality of life and community effects. This strategy is used by tourism stakeholders to encourage participation by local communities that broadens the scope of service delivery in the tourism sector. Community tourism makes people aware of the value of their culture and heritage, food and lifestyle and how to convert them into income generating projects that helps the communities to get involved in small business management, environmental awareness, product development and marketing.
This is the type of tourism in which residents provide basic services to tourists like accommodation. By doing this, locals earn income and tourists get a chance to experience and discover the traditional local culture, wildlife and habitats. These locals become aware of the commercial and social values which foster conservation of these resources.
In Uganda, Uganda wildlife authority (UWA) recognizes local communities as key stakeholders in wildlife conservation projects.UWA allows local communities to share protected area resources and involve them in planning and management of these resources.
A number of activities have been implemented by UWA such as conservation education awareness where low cost accommodation facilities have been constructed in lake Mburo, Murchison falls, Queen Elizabeth and Mount Elgon national parks to facilitate the school children and organized groups to learn and view wildlife.
UWA allows local communities to access resources such as medicinal herbs, papyrus and vine used to make hand crafts, fish, bamboo, bee hives and water during dry spells. There is Revenue sharing between UWA and the local communities where 20% of the revenue is given out to the local communities.
There is Batwa trail that allow visitors to experience the tradition of Batwa that earns them revenue and employment as well as the surrounding communities. However there are other cultural encounters by park’s surrounding communities through village walks to visit home stead’s and to experience vibrant local cultural dances and craft shops in all national parks owned by private groups.
Uganda Community Tourism Association (UCOTA) also empowers local communities in sustainable development through community tourism by ensuring that revenue stay back in local communities and also involve them in planning and decision making for tourism development.
Lodges like Marasa, Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp, Mahogany Spring and Tour Operators have also excelled in supporting community Tourism initiatives. While waiting for tourism day celebrations, Uganda has tried to develop tourism through community empowerment that has necessitated the wildlife and local communities to live together without conflicts. All these have been done to improve the well being of the local people, develop the national economy while conserving the natural environment.