EAST AFRICA TOURISM PLATFORM BAGS 1ST RUNNER UP AT UNWTO’S AWARD CEREMONY
(Posted 21st January 2015)
East Africa’s tourism industry last night enjoyed a major success story when the regional tourism body EATP, short for the East Africa Tourism Platform, received the 1st Runner Up trophy in the field Innovation of Public Policy and Governance.
At hand to receive the award was EATP’s Coordinator Carmen Nibigira and Kenya’s Minister for Tourism Najib Balala, who was in Madrid to attend the first of the major global tourism trade shows, FITUR.
This global recognition affirms a success story told in many chapters right here, and while success has many fathers, here it is, both tongue in cheek as well as in reality a mothers’ success story. Besides Carmen Nibigira, who after a stint as Director General of the Burundi Tourism Office went to complete her Ph.D. in the United States before taking on the role as Coordinator at the EATP offices in Nairobi, it is one Waturi Wa Matu who must be credited with this accomplishment. Waturi, now Director for Business Development at Trade Mark East Africa, was the first Coordinator or better described CEO of the East Africa Tourism Platform and steered the fledgling organization through its infancy years to turn it into a high profile and high reputation regional trade body, recognized not just in the region but across the entire continent as a text book study of how to bring together private and public sector for the good of the industry.
She handed over to Carmen who has since proven that EATP made the right choice to select her succeed Waturi in this position, as she built on the foundations laid and has taken EATP to the next level where UNWTO, the United Nation’s world tourism body, first named the platform as a finalist and then selected EATP as 1st Runner Up.
More information about EATP can be accessed via their Facebook page by clicking on the following link: https://www.facebook.com/eastafrica.platform/?fref=ts while both Carmen and Waturi, in a brief video clip, explain the functions of EATP: https://www.facebook.com/817679088278950/videos/1016127975100726/?theater
Congratulations to all those involved in having made EATP the success story it has become but in particular must thanks go to Waturi Wa Matu and Carmen Nibigira for their tireless work to drive the regional tourism agenda forward.
Subsequent to this article has EATP also released the following statement to the media:
Boost for East Africa Tourism as its private sector body is feted for online and destination awareness marketing tool at the 12th UNWTO Award in Madrid.
______________________________________________________
Nairobi 21st January, 2016
East Africa private sector body, East Africa Tourism Platform (EATP) has emerged First runner up of the UNWTO Award for Innovation in Public Policy and Governance for its multi-destination knowledge management tool at the 12th UNWTO Awards
EATP was among a total of 17 projects from Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe that were selected from a total of 109 candidacies, as finalist of the 12th UNWTO Awards on Excellence and Innovation in Tourism.
Winners in the four categories of Public Policy and governance, Research and Technology Enterprises and Non –Governmental Organizations (NGOs) were announced Wednesday night at the UNWTO Awards Ceremony and gala dinner at Fitur in Madrid, Spain.
The Award recognizes initiatives that are highly innovative and managed by a public or public-private institution that reflects tangible and sustainable improvements in policy, processes, and governance.
Speaking after receiving the award on behalf of the 5 countries, EATP Regional Co-ordinator Ms Carmen Nibigira says the Multi-destination Knowledge management tool developed by EATP was nominated and awarded for its works towards an inclusive model of tourism governance which involves diverse tourism stakeholders.
“Through this tool, regional tourism stakeholders have started trading each other’s products, packaging tourism products without borders, bench-marking amongst themselves and learning from each other.
We are one people, but with a rich cultural diversity that needs to be tapped and harnessed for the benefit of developing tourism and our economies at large” said Mrs Nibigira
Kenya Tourism Minister Najib Balala who was at the event lauded the win as a big boost for the East Africa Tourism Product.
Nominees in the category of Public Policy and Governance for the 12th UNWTO awards included East Africa Tourism Platform Multi-destination knowledge management tool; a public sector initiative to fight the sexual exploitation of children in the tourism sector in Medelin (Colombia), a project by the government of Banyuwangi in Indonesia promoting ICT in tourism and the Green certification Programme of Puerto Rico.
With EATP’s core objective being to provide positive and results oriented policy advocacy, EATP’s multidestination tool is an online too that will see over 10,000 tourism operators across the East African region trained and exposed to cross selling products across the 5 countries.
EATP Former Regional Tourism Co-ordinator Ms Waturi Matu noted that initially players in the five East Africa countries were hesitant to cross sell each other’s tourism products fearing it would mean less business for each other.
“However players are now very open to the wide range of products they are being able to provide to their clients as result of this tool .With this kind of awareness we foresee in the near future the East Africa region attracting long stay clients who spend close to 21 days in the participating countries as a result of the variety of products they can enjoy across the region. Which means more tourism income for all,” Ms Matu said.
EATP can be credited for advocating for the single tourist visa, use of national IDs as travel documents for citizens between Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, free movement of tourism services, partial liberalization of EAC air space and joint marketing initiatives which is mainly under the East Africa Northern Corridor. These initiatives have already started having positive effects on regional travel.
Other initiatives such as joint marketing initiatives, technical support for national associations or harmonization of standards and codes of conduct of tourism facilities and services are on-going and will enhance the regional destination competitiveness.
