Why tour operators fail in Uganda
To find out why tour operators fail in Uganda today, our tourism consultants have taken the time and researched what exactly attributes to the downfall of the great tourism industry giants in our beloved country Uganda. Take a lot at these 5 points that explain why tour operators fail in Uganda and how you can overcome failure in day-to-day tour operations.
1. Participation in fraud.
Despite being a great tour operator in the tourism industry today offering unmatched tour services and memorable holidays to tourists but you, on other hand, becoming the center of fraud can lead you to fail. Fraud can include receiving money from guests and do not offer a service. This can be as well be termed as cheating your customers or ripping them off their money. We can take an example of a tourist that books his Uganda gorilla trekking permit with your tour company and instead pretend you secured it and send him wrong proof of purchasing his/her permit but at the back of your mince you are certain that you have not provided proof and the permit is not paid for. This is a criminal offense and liable for imprisonment and thus your company’s credibility will be affected thus failing.
Try to avoid fraud in all your operations, and keep transparency and honesty in your business dealings with tourists. Keep proof and give them the confidence of why they have booked their holiday with your agency and if possible confirm their holiday with proof including hotel vouchers, permits, etc.
2. Poor Service in trip deliverance.
Poor service in trip delivery is another reason why tour operators fail in Uganda. It is important for you as a tour operator to improve and maintain the quality of the services you render. Make sure you run a checklist of all services that your guests will be taking with you and give a high priority to providing a quality service that will spark your past customers to become your business ambassadors. Constant provision of poor service and trip deliverance will generate bad reviews and impact your market reach which will in the end fail your tour company.
Plan to always provide top services and guarantee trip deliverance at all times. This will not only keep your tour company running but also keep repeating business all year round.
3. Money Mad OR Greed.
It is very bad to become money-mad in tour operations. Becoming money possessed at times makes you as a business fail to focus on the value of the service in exchange for money. All you care about is extorting money from your customers and on the contrary extending poor service that will cause your downfall. Act contrary in this case by ensuring guests/tourists first obtain quality services then money comes last. This will give confidence to your customers and be confident enough thus uplifting your company brand.
4. Keeping unhealthy business relationships.
Poor and unhealthy business relationships with your partners, different service providers in the production chain including hotel/lodges, car hire, and rental companies, airlines, flight charter services, attraction centers, etc. Failure to keep good working relations with other key industry players resulting from not being honest, fraudulent dealings, not being transparent, and being untrustworthy will definitely lead to the collapse of your tour company in Uganda.
Think of importing your close working relationships with key industry players, keep transparent and honest with them, settle their invoices in time and show transparency where it seems to be fading, communicate well with them and give them the confidence to trust your company in all your dealing with them.
5. Creativity & innovation stagnation.
Well, this is one of the biggest challenges why tour operators fail in Uganda. Failure to exercise creativity and innovation, especially in this digital age impacts negatively the health status of your tour agency. Without creativity in play, new strategies and new tactics will not exist and the tour Company will not see new results for failure to have new and different ideas. New and different ideas will definitely earn you different results. Think of new market approaches, product development, and how best you can improve your services to your customers.
To avoid this stagnation, you can engage with your tourism coach or successful tour operators and ask them what has made them stand for this long while on success. Get mentorship from your tourism consultant and also seek refresher tourism training or a course with practical tourism learning tips.
Well, there is more than what we have put here for you that explains why tour operators fail in Uganda. Be aware of the red flags along the way that might lead to the collapse of your tour company. Watch every step you choose to take, and evaluate its impact before its implementation.
