Agnes Kemigisa lives and breathes Tooro sub-region, its tourism potential and culture. She has dedicated her resources towards ensuring that people from across the world can get to see and feel the beauty her home area has to offer.
She believes her efforts combined with those of other passionate young people can take Tooro to the world and bring the world to Tooro. She spoke to Samson Baranga about her passion for tourism.
From 2010 to 2014, Kemigisa was employed at the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) as part of the team responsible for marketing Uganda overseas. Her four-year experience at UTB opened her eyes to the unlimited opportunities in the industry, especially the trickle-down effect of each tourist to the local person.
While at UTB, the board, she says, had a Shs 2 billion annual budget; which made her realize government funding alone can barely facilitate the country’s tourism sector.
She had travelled to various countries marketing Uganda. One of her most notable destinations was Berlin during the Internationale Tourismus-Borse (ITB) 2013, where Uganda scooped the fifth best exhibitor award. “The lesson was that we could sell so much about our country beyond just the wildlife,” she says.
During her break from UTB, she realized her home area had a lot of tourism potential. She could collaborate with people already in Fort Portal and take the message to the rest of the world using her experience. This urged her to start Trails Africa Tours and Travel in 2014.
The company, which she started with personal savings, is aimed at bringing as many foreign tourists to Uganda as possible. Her main focus is on promoting destination Tooro. Kemigisa wants to see more Ugandans travelling to enjoy the beauty of Tooro sub-region as a local tourism endpoint.
“Apart from the fact that I come from Tooro, it’s really a beautiful place that has a lot to be discovered,” she says, adding that that motivated her to set up a tourist company back home. When many tourists visit Fort Portal, she is optimistic there will be an increase in the hotels occupancy in the area.
A lot of tourists pass through Fort Portal, but few stay for a day or two. Promoting it as a destination with well-publicized activities, she is confident, will have tourists staying longer. This also implies that the locals will get employment opportunities and increased market for their agricultural produce.
Even after leaving UTB, Kemigisa has not ceased travelling. She was contacted by Albert Bakasara, the chairman for Tooro American Association, to showcase Tooro during the 2016 edition of the Ugandan North American Association (UNAA) convention in September.
Her stall which had Empaako T-shirts, artifacts and traditional wear attracted much attention. This, she says, was the high point for her ‘Take Tooro to the world, bring the world to Tooro’ campaign.
“The Ugandans residing in the US and those that had travelled [for the convention] were blown away by the exhibition. It was the first time a sub-region was showcasing at the event,” she says, adding that it was one of the biggest highlights of her career so far.
With two years of her private tourism company, so many people have travelled to Fort Portal because of the online promotion she is doing alongside other youthful tourism ambassadors. She has also been working closely with Fort Portal municipality MP Alex Ruhunda, minister of Tourism in Tooro Kingdom Anna Bagaya and the Miss Tourism Tooro fraternity.
“Our vision is to make Fort Portal town the tourism capital of Uganda. Nikisoboka (it’s possible),” she says, arguing that all her efforts are geared towards that. “The future is very bright.”
Looking ahead, she believes tour operators need to change the status quo given that tourists can now find all information they need and can make bookings online. So, she is partnering with the team behind Visipo app to promote a mobile app that will help tourists make bookings even at the last minute.
CHILDHOOD, EDUCATION
Kemigisa was born in Mengo and bred in Fort Portal. She has fond memories of growing up near Rukidi street of Uganda’s cleanest town. Kemigisa and her two siblings were brought up by their mother Angelique Nakato.
“I have never seen so much beauty in one family,” she says, adding that her family’s unity and closeness has its foundation in her grandmother. “She is one rock holding us all together.”
Growing up with a single mother pushed her out of her comfort zone. “She is a tough and loving mum,” she says. Kemigisa attended Buhinga primary school and Nyakasura School in Fort Portal for her O and A-levels. She then went to Makerere University for a bachelor of Commerce.
While still at university, she got a job with Samsung as a field agent which she held until she graduated.
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