1. As one of Kampala’s most established hospitality brands, Fairway Hotel has witnessed Uganda’s transformation over decades. How has the property evolved to remain relevant in a rapidly changing hospitality market?
Fairway Hotel started off as just a simple home. It was my great-grandfather’s home, and my grandpa turned it into a hotel for the first ever Pope’s visit to Uganda.
We’ve spanned generations, and we’ve spanned also different political climates. A lot of the meetings that shaped this nation actually took place in this very hotel, being one of those first hotels, first conference halls, first swimming pools in the city, stuff like that.
To stay relevant, we’re very focused on customer service, on the customer experience. We will not be the biggest hotel or the newest hotel, but we are very focused on the high touch. The way our staff communicate with guests, creating experiences. I can be out somewhere and someone will tell me a story, such us “I had my first ever noodles in Fairway”, or “my grandparents got married at your hotel”. It’s these kinds of memories that keep us very relevant.
We keep our staff for a very long time. There’s some staff who have known me since I was seven. They’ve been here for 25 years or something. I think it’s important that you create some kind of a family. And I always say that when someone joins our team, they’re not just joining a hotel, they’re joining a family that hopefully they’ll be a part of and grow in.
Your question was about how we’ve stayed relevant. I guess as the industry’s grown and expanded, as more international people are coming in and more hotels have showed up, one thing we’ve done is not focusing just on the external market; we have really focused on the local market. We have 100 rooms, two restaurants, two bars, event spaces. So, being relevant in that F&B space is important. We are constantly adding things. Every one or two years when you come back, you’ll see that there’s kind of a new facelift to different areas.
We also focus a lot on the natural. You can get high-rises anywhere in Dubai, New York or anywhere, but not these kinds of open garden filled with lots of trees. I think we have over 100 different species of plants and ponds in the various gardens around the hotel.
It was part of our ethos that we try to make everything in Uganda. So, everything is made from Ugandan timbers. We try to create everything using local artisans, local carpenters, welders and things like that.
2. Uganda’s tourism and business travel sectors continue to expand. How has Fairway Hotel performed recently in terms of occupancy, events, and overall guest demand?
I think we have been very stable. Especially Fairway, because it has been there for a long time, so it’s a bit different than other hotels. A lot of new hotels come up and obviously they steal market share. But then I think, customers build a relationship with our staff and that’s what keeps people coming back. It’s the fact that “the waiter knows me, or the host knows me. They know me by name. So, let me go back to where I feel comfortable”.
Uganda has to do more to attract tourists. We attract a lot of business tourists. But in terms of actual tourists who are coming here, people still don’t think of Uganda on the top of their list. Yet we have such an amazing value proposition. And that’s something important.
It’s also about educating. I know there’s a lot of focus on oil and gas, and I don’t want to say that it’s not the right way to go. But oil and gas benefit a very small percentage of the population, as opposed to hospitality, which affects transportation, agriculture, artisans, bars, restaurants, taxis, so many people. So, the footprint of tourism is more widely felt. Brings in forex. It’s not bad for the environment.
Also, in terms of exposure, it’s very difficult for a Ugandan to fly to France. But when a French person is here and they’re learning about each other’s culture, there’s that interchange of cultures that happen that benefits the locals as well. I’ve often seen some of my staff practice Mandarin or practice Spanish. That’s why I believe hospitality should be more of a focus. And unfortunately, it’s not.
3. Do you, from the hotel, work on strategies to change that?
Yes, I actually sit on a lot of boards. The one that is relevant to this conversation would be Uganda Tourism Association. I’ve been there now for three years, representing all hotels in Uganda on that association. And we try to work with Ministry of Tourism, with Uganda Tourism Board, to be a bit more strategic in the way they spend their resources and the way they plan on how market the country. I often say that we can’t compete with our big brothers. Tanzania and Kenya are giants, their budgets are like 30 times our budget. Their focus is on safaris. Ours should be on niche, focusing on mountaineering, beetles, birding. There’s a demographic that is not just looking for the big five. We have gorillas in Uganda. That’s all we talk about, but there’s so much more.
I also often talk about the fact that Uganda has a vibe. There are concerts all the time. You can go out and every bar is busy every day. And not just focusing on tourism to the West countries, but to Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi; our neighbouring countries for whom it’s easier to be tourists. So, tourism is not just marketing to the West, it’s marketing also to people around us who don’t have that same vibe or freedom that we have.
Uganda is relatively safe. You can go to bars and restaurants and feel comfortable. That’s what we should be selling to our tourists. When the Africans travel, they look for shopping, they look for going out to restaurants, they look for that kind of vibe.
4. Who are your main customers at the moment?
Business tourists, NGOs. We have a lot of foreign embassies, actually, a lot of Europeans, like Dutch, Germans, Belgium, French.
I think they appreciate the Ugandan feel. And some people are not just looking for the brand. I like how Uganda doesn’t have so many brands. We just have a few. We’ve kind of tried to protect the local brands that are there, the “Africanas” and stuff like that. But it’s changing. There’s a lot of brands coming in, which of course changes the market a lot. They come with big budgets and all that. But they can’t imitate the Ugandan feeling. Ugandans are very warm. If you go to Nigeria for example, they’re very much rougher. The Ugandans are naturally kind, warm people. And that’s something that shows your hospitality.
5. Fairway Hotel combines historical character with modern amenities. How do you balance preserving the hotel’s legacy while adapting to evolving guest expectations and international standards?
I think the hotel’s legacy is this: we’re known as a home away from home. Even in the time after Idi Amin’s time, when people started coming back, this was people’s first home because they were chased out of the country. They came back in 20, 30 years. All they knew was Fairway because it was the only hotel that was there. So, people stayed with us for a year, two years, six months, until they found their footing. I remember my grandpa was telling me stories where people would come, they couldn’t even afford their bills, but then we would give on credit so people could establish. So, building that relationship with the community has kept us quite relevant.
Even recently, there was a flood. There were some intense rains and they were doing road construction above us, so they blocked the drain, and all the rain from that hill fled through our hotel. Everywhere was flooded. The reason I brought up that story is the amount of phone calls and messages I got. People from city council were showing up because they were like, “how could this happen to our home”. It felt good that people cared so much. Because they don’t say, “how is your?”. They say “how is our hotel?”. It’s one of the reasons I kept this. My family passed away and I inherited this hotel. And many people thought I would just sell it and go back to Canada. But I don’t just feel this is mine. I feel like it’s a community.
If you look at like many countries, in Thailand, Bangkok, Vietnam, wherever you are, there’s always that kind of one strong heritage hotel. This one was that hotel in Uganda. The iconic hotel. So, we’re like top five online, our rooms are generally always busy. People still think of us as an old hotel, but our rooms are modern now. So, it’s different, but we’re known as that kind of iconic hotel.
6. As Uganda’s tourism sector grows, what opportunities do you see for hospitality investment and expansion within the country?
What I’m seeing now is that there’s a lot of hotels that have come in the market. So, what happens is whenever hotels come in, there’s more inventory and everyone’s room rates have been going down.
There is not necessarily enough demand for rooms, but there is demand for things to do. Entertainment activities, whether that’s bungee jumping or museums or whatever it is. Some kind of more experiential things. There’s a lot of scope for example in farming tourism, where someone’s coming here, they’re going upcountry, they want to see what’s like to live on a coffee farm, or to grow coffee or cocoa. And there is a market for that kind of experiential tourism. As Fairway, we have Fairway Hotel, we have Sambiya River Lodge Murchison Falls National Park, which is beautiful, 80 acres surrounded by trees, you’re near the top of the falls. And then we have something called Coco Beach in Entebbe. That’s a project we started a few years ago. We noticed that people are looking for things to do, and beaches in Uganda used to be a very big thing. So, we invested. We made it a bit nicer. And then one thing we did differently is that we created a lot of entrepreneurs. The popcorn guy is an entrepreneur, the kid’s area is an entrepreneur. We’ve created this kind of ecosystem where there are like 30 small businesses within, and we have very good security, DJs. It’s a very safe environment, and that’s why we became the most popular beach in the year. We also have a brand called Boss Burger, like the McDonald’s / Burger King style, and we manage the golf course restaurant.
We’re going a lot more to F&B because we realize that people are looking for innovation in that space. People have disposable incomes. They don’t know where to spend it. And we’re also seeing that Ugandans are now traveling a lot more. When they travel, they learn new things. They come back and they’re looking for such. So, these are some of the things we’re trying to do.
7. Sustainability is becoming increasingly important across the hospitality sector. How is Fairway integrating responsible tourism, local partnerships, and community engagement into its operations?
The lodge is an eco-lodge. We have full solar, glass bottles, all that. Even here at the hotel, every year we try to add more solar. All our hot water is now in solar. We just put a huge 100-kilowatt plant a few weeks ago. We’re really trying to go more in that space. Also, our social media page is called Keep Uganda Green.
On the other hand, we try to work with local farmers, because we get better quality, it’s more affordable and fresher. These are some of the community outreach programs that we do.
We have also been converting Fairway Hotel into a training institute. What I noticed over my 15 years is the training schools here are not great. Everyone poaches my staff. So, we created our own training program within where you don’t pay for tuition. You apply and, based on passion, we then admit you in. We keep you here, you sleep here, you train hands-on in the day and in the evening, you do classes in the conference halls. After a few months, you go and find jobs. That’s something we’ve just started a year ago. We’re iterating it more and trying to fine-tune it, but by next year I want it to be rolled out completely.
In terms of sustainability of business, we’re looking at it more into Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). So, I must say working in Uganda is difficult. People are slow, they don’t take initiative. So, the manpower issues here are real. But creating very strong Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) is what we’re now focused on. It’s that “how do I ensure there’s a handbook for every single position?”, so you know how to stand, how to greet; but we also don’t want to make it clinical, we’re trying to encourage people to bring out their personalities.
8. There’s a big focus now on MICE tourism. What kind of offering do you do there?
Conferences is probably 40% of our revenue. I think for most hotels, conferences are quite important. They are great because it brings people to the country. It brings people together as well. There’s a lot of knowledge and skill development, and knowledge sharing that happens. It brings a lot of revenue to a country. I know Uganda is very, very focused on MICE.
We are still far from being MICE leaders in Africa. There’s Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, and they’re really heavily focused. But we’re still catching up. Uganda is relatively peaceful and stable. For the region as well, we’re in the centre, very strategically located, and that helps. Having Uganda Airways also really helps because it’s very easy to connect. With the Middle East situation, I think people are really looking now at other areas. I see Asia has gotten super busy. South America is getting very busy. And now Africa is on people’s radar.
Apart from MICE, I also see Uganda as a very good retirement destination. We have a good temperature, it’s beautiful here all the time. Our healthcare is not the best, but we have good nurses and they’re caring. You can live a pretty good life here on a few hundred bucks.
So, MICE is good, but it’s not the only thing that we should be focused on. Because MICE tourism only benefits the city hotels, it doesn’t benefit the entire ecosystem. And people that are here for conferences, they’re in and out, but tourists spend more time. They spend time, they interact with people, they spend more money. I think the angle of going towards only high-end tourists is wrong. There is that middle and also low-budget friendly tourism that is more appropriate for Uganda.
Rwanda, Tanzania, and Kenya have already had the high market covered. That should not be our niche, even though that’s what the government is looking at. But that mid-tier, you know, you want to bring your family of two, three and you don’t have USD 20,000 to spend on a safari. Uganda is a good option for stuff like that. Especially when you’ve got Jinja with all those different activities. It’s not for the wealthy that are looking for the same kind of experience. To be honest, Uganda is not a curated tourism experience. It is really an adventure. Your car might break down on the way. Someone might come help you. It’s an adventure, off the beaten track tourism. And I think that is what we need to sell because that’s our value proposition.
9. What would be your message of confidence to invite people to come, stay at Fairway Hotel, and see Uganda as an opportunity for investment and partnerships?
Fairway Hotel is a very good value and it’s a place where you feel comfortable, at home. It’s not a place where you have to worry about what you’ve kept in your room. It’s also a very social hotel, so you meet a lot of people. That’s why I would say stay at Fairway. It’s safe and well located.
In terms of investment, I think Africa is the future. Everywhere else is saturated. Africa is going to be the next 20 to 40 years of where people invest. We have a young growing population. Uganda has one of the highest. It also has the most entrepreneurs per capita, everyone here has a side hustle, everyone is very entrepreneurial, which is quite nice to see. Africans are very innovative; they find a way to survive.
There’s a lot of young talent here, and they were just not given the opportunity. In terms of call centres, app developments, other tech initiatives, there’s a lot of opportunity here, because people are looking for it.
Uganda is very fertile, but I would encourage people to engage in agriculture in a responsible way. We’re getting a lot of people coming in, giving us all sorts of bad pesticides that are eroding our soil, and then the farmer is making money for 10-12 years, but after that it’s no longer ancestral. And Uganda is known for ancestral land, so farms should last generations, like this hotel, not just short-term. So, responsible agriculture is important.
There’s also space in energy production. I’ve seen a lot of companies coming in from the UK for solar. They’ll bring solar in rural areas, put up these huge solar farms, sell energy back and recover their investment in 5 to 7 years. And then it’s just profits. That’s a good project to work on, and we’ve got enough sun.
