Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Okello.
Hi Paul, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My name is Paul Okello, crafter (founder) and CEO of Visit Africa, an Africa-wide tourism brand of Architect Tourism Limited. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to talk a bit about my personal story and how it inspired the crafting (creation) of our brand Visit Africa and Architect Tourism SMC Ltd Company.
I was born in this small town, secluded by nature scenery and beauty called Kakira, found in Jinja District, in Uganda (East Africa) in the African Continent. I grew up in a humble kind of set-up, in a small town, in a humble family. For me, my young brother Moses Ojok (The brand’s Head of Tourism Experience) and our childhood friends, outdoor adventure games filled with explorations were always the order of every day.
We used to walk for about 5hrs from Kakira town to Lake Victoria to go for fishing and swimming games after that go for forest adventure games, then spend part of the day exploring sugarcane plantations owned by Kakira Sugar Works, then later in the evening hours, children all around the community would gather for group games.
When I joined Secondary school at Holy Cross Lake View Senior Secondary School in Wanyange, Jinja District, my love for African Art, nature and wildlife, exploded even further. Growing up in a humble and loving family, in a small secluded town, the adventures I and my young brother shared with our childhood friends, the influence school had on me – all these have had a huge influence on who I am, what I do, and the makeup of Visit Africa.
Fast forward, in August 2019, I crafted Visit Africa’s vision which is “to inspire and enable an adventurous and breathtaking experience of Africa”, inspired by my childhood, my love for nature and wildlife, my love for culture and art, and my love for this beautiful and bold Africa. At the time, when this beautiful and amazing idea of an Africa-wide tourism brand was crafted, I struggled with the implementation. For starters, the finances to fund the brand were not enough.
I also did not have the time to concentrate on Visit Africa’s development and growth since I was working full-time as Publicity and Donor Relations at Evangelism Explosion Uganda (EEU). A few months into 2020, most of the African countries went into a Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, this allowed me time and space to concentrate on setting up and structuring the brand’s blueprint. The brand’s website was launched and wow, a lot of people got excited about this new idea, an idea of an Africa-wide tourism brand, inspiring a holistic and breathtaking experience of Africa, a conservation and sustainable tourism brand.
Since then, we never looked back, we are constantly innovating and our mission is to have our services available in every country in Africa, and every destination profiled. Currently, our services are available in twelve countries and counting. We are focused on adding ten new country destinations every year.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, the road has been bumpy. First, the financial stress during the pandemic is one I believe most brands severely grappled with and are still grappling with. Then came the COVID pandemic lockdown, which meant no external tourists/visitors into Africa. Due to border restrictions, some clients canceled their tourism experience booking, others pushed their tourism experience to later dates.
So we had to revisit our strategy and decided to use the time during the pandemic to focus more on crafting breathtaking tourism products like the “Gorilla Wild Roar”, “Wild Trill”, “Define Your Travel”, and “Tourism Events”. We also focused on building relations and cementing partnerships with other brands and companies in the tourism and travel industry.
We’ve been impressed with Visit Africa, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Visit Africa is an Africa-wide tourism brand based in Uganda, in East Africa. As a brand, our focus is to craft, inspire and enable an adventurous breathtaking, and thrilling experience of Africa. With our partnerships throughout Africa, we profile every country’s destination; attractions, where to stay, how to get there, when to get there, etc.
We do this to ease the decision-making process on which destination to visit and what to experience. All our product innovations are crafted to inspire a holistic African experience; from culture (way of life, fashion, language spoken, architecture, history), city life, nature scenery, wildlife, conservation efforts. The safety of our clients is a priority. We have emergency evacuation plans in place for every tourism experience, safari, or event.
We work around the clock to bring about this thrilling, holistic and breathtaking experience to our clients. Our services currently span twelve country destinations. However, in 2022 we are focusing on expanding our services to ten more African nations, and in the subsequent years until Visit Africa services are available throughout the entire African continent.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
As a brand and company sharing breathtaking Africa with the world in a holistic, thrilling, and sustainably is a priority. The experience of that wowed, the thrilled and excited expression on a client’s face is what keeps us constantly crafted, inspiring, and enabling more of the same experiences.
As a crafter (founder). I get the opportunity to share my incredible childhood outdoor adventure explorations with the world through visiting Africa (brand), and all the other brands coming soon under Architect Tourism SMC Ltd.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Brand Website: https://visitafrica.site
- Company Website: https://architectourism.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/visitafricatoday
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/visit-africa/
- Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/visitafrica-today
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/visitafricatoday
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/VisitAfrica2/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8WfZld4RmMqdGOkYg8RVTQ
Image Credits
Ahmed Galal, Birger Strahl, Crispin Jones, Grace Nandy, Mathis Jrdl, Mariola Grobelska, Moses Londo, Osama Elsayed, Magdalena Kula Manchee, Sammy Wong, Keith Kasaija, and Remy Venturini
