Exploring Sustainable Operations and Destinations in Uganda's Tourism

The essay explores Uganda's commitment to sustainable tourism through governmental policies that mitigate tourist impacts while enhancing economic value. Key initiatives include community-driven projects in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, focusing on Gorilla Tourism. The paper highlights the importance of collaborative partnerships between University of Manitoba stakeholders and local residents, who contribute significantly to accommodation development and infrastructure improvements. Challenges such as land rushes are addressed through community engagement. Recommendations emphasize the need for further development of tourism potential, infrastructure, and awareness campaigns to sustain long-term benefits.

Running head: SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS AND DESTINATIONS
Sustainable Operations and Destinations
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1
SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS AND DESTINATIONS
Uganda Sustainable Tourism
The Uganda Government takes the hands-on approach in promoting sustainable tourism
in Uganda. The policies implemented for the sustainable tourism purpose helps in limiting the
damages caused by the tourists. The sustainable tourism helps in increasing economic value of
the country in a significant way. The study develops the idea about the sustainable tourism
initiatives in Uganda undertaken by the stakeholders of University of Manitoba and the local
residents. The study would discuss the collaborative partnership between the stakeholders and
the recommendation for the future sustainable tourism aspects.
1. Sustainable Host Community
The Uganda sustainable tourism is undertaken for saving the rainforest that are affected
by the climate change. There are three major community projects, which are in different stages
of development. The first project was for Ruhija in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park.
The project concentrates on opening for Gorilla Tourism, which required funds from the project
developers and community people. In spite of numerous question of this initiative, the project
has paid the full focus on developing the concerns about the rarely visible gorillas (Duffy &
Kim, 2017). Previously, no tourists liked to visit the place since there was no attractive initiative
had undertaken. However, currently, few of the tourists are visiting for experiencing adventurous
journey in a place where gorillas inhabit.
However, there were some of the negative impacts as well. For example, there was a bit
of land rush. Therefore, the community engagement became much important for developing such
tourism initiative. After arranging a numerous meetings and community discussion, they first
started gathering funds for the community-tented camp, which eventually became the largest rest

2
SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS AND DESTINATIONS
camp. The engagement of the community people turned out to be much beneficial. These people
built a couple of block structures, which look like some local accommodation (Sharpley &
Telfer, 2014). The local hotels in Uganda are quite unsuitable for the tourist markets. Hence, this
community project focused on developing the accommodation that would be appreciated by the
tourists. These initiatives created the opportunity for the sustainable tourism in Uganda.
2. Collaborative Partnership
The community development is the most appreciable initiatives that have improved the
lifestyle of the local community people. The collaborative partnerships between community
people and the project workers of University of Manitoba are quite helpful for developing such
initiatives. They work together to develop the appropriate accommodation for the tourists. It has
been observed that the children in the community are mostly orphans (Van der Duim,
Ampumuza & Ahebwa, 2014). Some of the children are single orphans, which mean they have
one parent but do not receive any supports. However, in spite of these challenges, they contribute
to this community development process. They raise funds for the tourism development. They
work collaboratively with the project workers. The collaborative work eventually formulated the
water tanks, water heater, and gravity feed for the shower.
The collaborative work approach is quite beneficial in developing the fund from the
tourists who are visiting and staying there. In fact, for the upcoming future, they are planning to
open a gift shop nearby the camp. However, the outsiders are also trying to build shops there,
which would to benefit the community funds. In addition to this, the collaborative work
approaches are not paying attention towards developing the downstream linkage and effective
supply chain management (Adiyia et al., 2015). The trained bird guides among the community

3
SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS AND DESTINATIONS
people are quite efficient for the tourists who are visiting the places and exploring the
community building projects. The initiatives are quite profitable for the community development
purposes.
Recommendation for Future
The above scenario provides the idea of the sustainable tourism in Uganda. The scenario
provides the detailed information about the collaborative partnership and the initiative
undertaken by the stakeholders. Identifying the scenario, the recommendations are provided for
the future prospect.
 Development of the internal tourism potential is essential for developing the facilities
for the outside tourists. The involvement of the local people would ensure the long term
sustainability.
 The development of the tourism related infrastructure is necessary for developing the
better tourism sector in Uganda. It would be more beneficial in attracting tourists and
generating more revenues.
 Spreading the tourism awareness is quite helpful for generating the funds. These funds
would be used for delivering the better accommodations and services to the tourists.

4
SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS AND DESTINATIONS
References
Adiyia, B., Stoffelen, A., Jennes, B., Vanneste, D., & Ahebwa, W. M. (2015). Analysing
governance in tourism value chains to reshape the tourist bubble in developing countries:
the case of cultural tourism in Uganda. Journal of Ecotourism, 14(2-3), 113-129.
Duffy, L., & Kim, G. (2017). Addressing power: stakeholder involvement within an integrated
tourism planning process. Linking Urban and Rural Tourism: Strategies in Sustainability,
33.
Sharpley, R., & Telfer, D. J. (Eds.). (2014). Tourism and development: concepts and issues (Vol.
63). Channel View Publications.
Van der Duim, R., Ampumuza, C., & Ahebwa, W. M. (2014). Gorilla Tourism in Bwindi
Impenetrable National Park, Uganda: An Actor-Network Perspective. Society & Natural
Resources, 27(6), 588-601.