A story titled ‘Busoga heritage site: Underutilised goldmine,’ which published in the Daily Monitor yesterday, succinctly describes how potential cash cows are not being milked in the Busoga Sub-region. Busoga, which is home to popular tourist attractions such as the Source of the Nile and Itanda Falls, also has many cultural and historical sites that can increase the number of tourists visiting the sub-region if they are promoted and the requisite infrastructure is put in place. Sites such as Mpumuire Hill, which serves as the coronation ground for the Kyabazinga (king) of Busoga, have the potential of attracting more tourists, both domestic and international, into the sub-region.
This can create more employment opportunities in the tourism value chain for locals and thereby improve standards of living in a sub-region where poverty is rampant. Other regions of the country also have several cultural and historical sites, potential cash cows, that have been neglected. Some of them have been encroached on and damaged. The central government should work with local governments and cultural institutions to ensure these sites are protected from encroachment. The authorities should invest in building infrastructure such as roads, and provide electricity and piped water to these sites. There is also a need to establish centres where locals can be taught foreign languages and how to properly guide tourists who visit these sites.
Entrepreneurs should be facilitated to build hotels, restaurants, and provide other services such as car rentals for tourists who visit these sites. These suggestions, if properly implemented, will enable tourists to enjoy their visits to these sites and come back for more of what they experienced on their previous visits. The happy tourist will also recommend the site to their relatives, friends, and colleagues. Developing these neglected sites into booming tourism sites will not only provide jobs for thousands of unemployed citizens but also increase revenue of the central government and local governments that directly manage these sites.
The revenue received from the tourism sector can be used to build more schools and hospitals. This money can be used to equip hospitals with the requisite tools, hire more health workers, and provide medicines to patients. The education sector can also benefit from the tourism revenue through procurement of textbooks, laboratory equipment, hiring of more teachers and paying them well, among others. These sites are also reservoirs of tradition and history and should, therefore, be safeguarded against destruction.