A descriptive study of travel and tourism photography in Uganda.

Abstract

The Study examined the use of professional photography in tourism marketing in Uganda. The study was guided by the following objectives; The research was guided by the following objectives; • To analyse the importance of photography in tourism marketing in Uganda • To investigate the challenges limiting the effective use of photography in tourism marketing in Uganda. • To offer recommendations on how to deal with the challenges identified. The study used a qualitative method of data collection through interviews, surveys questionnaires and analyzing the area of study. The population of interest for this study consists of tourists visiting Uganda Wildlife Education Centre/Zoo, locals living around tourist sites and professional and non-professional travel photographers who capture these tourist attraction sites. The respondents were interviewed and also given questionnaires which were later collected after being filled. The researcher also used interview guides as a data collection method. The study findings revealed that Photography is vital in marketing tourism and therefore UWEC and travel companies need to hire more professional photographers to capture Uganda’s wildlife and other tourism sites for proper marketing. Photographers should apply elements of photography to capture shots that are outstanding and eye catching to the viewer. The study concluded that Photographers need to take time and look out for more scenes and capture and publish them instead of the common photos posted that consist of one subject or similar animals. Uganda has many beautiful scenes and a million of creatures unknown. UWEC and the photographers hired should therefore take the initiative to go out and capture these said scenes and creatures and bring them to light through the photographs they take. This will attract more tourists to come in as they find interest to explore and witness what is shown in the photographs. The study findings also revealed that Framing is important in making good compositions in photography. In framing you determine what should appear in a photo and what should not. Photographers should consider framing in order to cut out what is not important and leave what is necessary in a photo, this would help give a clear understanding on what’s taking place from the photographs published. A viewer needs to see the subject with her surroundings and any activities taking place, without proper framing a photo is boring and doesn’t play any role in marketing tourism The study finding also concluded that tourism is a big sector in Uganda and the country has so many features, animals and landscapes that attract people from around the world to come and explore them. However without the use of professional photography to publish these sites, tourism marketing will be a challenge to the various travel companies. There is high growth of competition in tourism from other African countries but however Uganda stands a higher chance to out compete them because of the many unique sites. Therefore photographs play an important role in exposing these attractive sites to the world. This is why proper use of professional photography is important in marketing tourism.