EFFECTS OF COVID-19 ON TOURISM IN UGANDA
Effects of Covid-19 on Tourism in Uganda : Covid-19 is among the world threats that caught it by surprise and in the process it led to death of a number of people and changes in the ways of living. Among the countries in the world that were affected by covid-19, Uganda is among the counties in Africa that were affected by covid-19 and she confirmed her first case of covid-19 in March 2020. The government of Uganda has contributed to the fight against covid-19 by putting in place a number of safety precautions to ensure that the locals are protected against the virus and also tourists that visit the country to take part in a number of activities in the country.
Among the different safety precautions that tourists and locals exercise include; maintaining social distance, using hand sanitizer and regular disinfection of surfaces you get in contact with, tourists that have tested negative for covid-19 and have been vaccinated for covid-19 are the ones that will access Uganda an also much emphasis is put on wearing of face masks to avoid the spread and contraction of the virus and mass immunization are among the safety precautions that are exercised to avoid the spread of the virus.
There a number of activities that tourists that visit Uganda are interested in taking part in for instance gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park and mgahinga national park, chimpanzee trekking in Kibale national park, tracking the big five animals in queen Elizabeth national park, game drives in kidepo national park, boat cruise in Murchison falls national park among other tourism activities in Uganda . however with a number of tourism activities in Uganda, a lot has changed due to the effects of covid-19 on tourism in Uganda as explained below;
Among the effects of covid-19 on tourism activities in Uganda is the cutting down on the number of tourists that take part in the different activities as a way to maintain social distance when tourists take part in the different activities. Activities like gorilla trekking in Uganda take eight tourists per gorilla family but with covid-19 the number was decreased to 6 people s a way of avoiding in the spread f the virus and by this it puts a limit on the number of people that take part in the activity daily therefore tourists should book in advance to be part of the six people that take part in gorilla trekking in Uganda.
Another effect of covid-19 on tourism in Uganda is the discounts that are being given to tourists that they should make use of before their expiration. The Uganda wildlife authority issues a number of promotional rates for tourism activities in Uganda among which included; gorilla trekking in Uganda which was 700USD before but now the gorilla trekking permits in Uganda are;
- East African community citizens will pay ugx 150,000
- Foreign residents will pay USD 300 for gorilla permits
- Foreign non residents will pay USD 400
Chimpanzee trekking promotional rates are as follows;
- East African community citizens will pay ugx 100,000
- Foreign residents will pay USD 100 for gorilla permits
- Foreign non residents will pay USD 150 among other tourism activities in the country that a can be carried out and this offer is valid till 31st June 2021.
Among the other effects of covid-19 is the discount on hotel rooms which affected a number of hotel owners but also favoured a number of tourists to get a number of beautiful hotel rooms that will enable their comfortable stay in the country at a relatively cheap price as compared to the prices before covid-19. This is because hotel bookings are quite low hence leading the discounts on the room prices.
Maintaining social distance which has created has also contributed to limiting access to other tourists since everyone is seen as a threat to lead to the spreading of the virus therefore making connections with other tourists quite difficult which was not the case before the outbreak of corona virus in the world but although getting together with other tourists is quite hard during covid-19 in Uganda, you’ll still receive the utmost adventure during your stay in the country.
