UTB to Organize Coffee & Tourism Symposium

Coffee & Tourism in Uganda? Many of us love coffee because it has always been an important part of your lives and also offer an opportunity to start the day and gather thoughts that fuel the process of creativity.

Uganda, the Pearl of Africa is one of the World’s top 10 producers of coffee, the second largest in the African Continent after Ethiopia and so far the number one exporter of this cash crop (According to November 2017 records by Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA). Surprisingly, some of the World’s tastiest coffee is grown in Uganda and most coffee companies like Starbucks, Nescafe and others process coffee beverages from some of Uganda’s sorted and finest coffee beans. Whereas Uganda is considered one of the main producers of coffee, its coffee doesn’t feature in the World’s top 15 value earning coffee exporting countries, hence the need to give this treasure the importance and attention it deserves.

It’s with great pleasure that the Government of Uganda is offering opportunity to tourists around the World to have a taste of the country’s original and finest coffee and also see how or where it is grown by participating in coffee tourism. It is also for this reason that the Uganda Tourism Board and partners that include the Uganda Coffee Development Authority, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Tourism, Uganda local Government Association and others have organized the first-ever coffee and tourism symposium and Exposition scheduled to take place on 6^th December 2018 at Golden Tulip Hotel in Kampala (Capital City of Uganda). Therefore, hoteliers, tour operators and coffee farmers will be part of the discussants as a way of establishing business relationships and forging a way of tapping on the unexplored coffee tourism opportunities in addition to improving their businesses.

Over 180 delegates and 20 exhibitors will take part in this symposium under the theme “Unlocking Uganda’s Coffee Tourism Potential” and will involve prime stakeholders in the coffee and tourism sub-sectors who are expected to have discussions on how the proceeds and potential of the two mentioned subsectors can be tapped and even boosted. One of the important topics the symposium will cover is “ways of making Uganda a top destination for coffee tourists.

By doing so, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority also aims at making Uganda not just a top African producer but also one of the leading global exporters of premium coffee. The key speakers for the event include Ms. Judy Kepher-Gona, a travel and tourism expert from Kenya) and Mr. Glenn Jampol, the President and co-owner of the Finca Rosa Blanca coffee Plantation Resort and is also a popular International sustainable tourism expert from Costa Rica (co-founder Global Ecotourism Network).

As earlier mentioned, it is one thing to enjoy coffee but it’s another to know how it is grown yet most people enjoy the beverage but don’t know where and how it is grown or even how a coffee plant looks like. Therefore coffee tourism will involve linking coffee farmers to the consumers through a farm-to-cup approach with tourists touring the farms and sharing their experience with farmers.

All in all, it’s about taking the enjoyers of coffee to the farms and making sure the amenities needed inform of transport means, accommodation facilities are taken care of and thus, ultimate on-farm experiences will increase revenue (earnings) as farmers and hospitality stakeholders as well as those in the tourism sector attain eminence resulting from global exposure.

Through this tourism initiative, the Government of Uganda believes that the honest feedback by tourists will help in increasing quality and quantity of coffee thus also boosting its returns because it’s looking at increasing exports of the cash crop from the present 4.6 million (60 kilogram) bags annually to over 20 million (60 kilograms) bags by the year 2025.

While speaking during the press conference at Uganda Media Center on 27^th November 2018, Mr. Stephen Asiimwe, the CEO of Uganda Tourism Board added that tourism and coffee are Uganda’s top foreign exchange earners in addition to being the main employers of men, women and youth thus the need to stop selling the same things to tourists all the time as part of the Board’s product development. Also, Mrs. Joan Kantu Else, the CEO of Coffee Tourism Uganda pointed that coffee and tourism are the main contributors of the country’s GDP hence the symposium is postulated on the economic importance of the two vital products.

However, that will not be the only coffee & tourism symposium but is rather the beginning and therefore expected to become an annual event with each year being bigger and better in addition to attracting more participants.

In conclusion, Uganda’s tourism sector is not fully tapped (explored) but with new products like coffee tourism, tourists will have a lot to see in the country but also get the chance to see how and where the coffee they love or enjoy is grown and processed.