Africa-Press – Uganda. Barely days after Uganda’s central bank announced in its 2022/2023 annual report that the country’s foreign reserves had dipped to $4.07b (Shs15.2 trillion), one of the major forex earners suffered a sledgehammer blow.
In 2022, per the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), Uganda fetched $736m (Shs2.7b) after registering 814,508 tourists. The country has already registered hundreds of thousands of tourists this year. Two of them, newlyweds, were this week in the Queen Elizabeth National Park for their honeymoon.
The park, says Ms Lilly Ajarova, UTB’s executive director, “is recognised for its breathtaking landscapes and diverse wildlife.” Only this time, suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militia had creeped into it. The gunmen, in an orgy of bloodletting, claimed the lives of the newlyweds and their driver, who doubled as a guide.
Yesterday, Britain’s Foreign Office advised its citizens “against all but essential travel” to the hugely popular park. One of the tourists who died at the hands of the gunmen was a Briton.
Observers fear that Uganda’s robust tourism industry could be handicapped by a flurry of cancelled bookings at the time when tourists usually loosen their purse strings. Players in the sector, however, remain hopeful.
“We have faced such adversities in the past. However, with our robust and vigilant security system, I know our security forces will handle the situation,” Ms Susan Muhwezi, the chairperson of Uganda Hotel Owners Association, said yesterday, adding, “We appeal for calm and also encourage tourists not to shy away from coming to Uganda because the country is peaceful.”
Ms Ajarova was just as sanguine, saying “tourism remains a vital pillar of Uganda’s economy, and we are fully committed to maintain and improve the safety and security of our visitors.”
Mr Gesa John Simplicious, the UTB spokesperson, added that “more than ever, Queen Elizabeth National Park is now secured.”
For the tour operators, a cautious optimism was clearly palpable. It is, perhaps, best captured by Mr Ivan Paul Wassaaka, the team leader at Gorillas and Wildlife Safaris, who told that the industry will bounce back from the setback just as it did when Covid-19 landed a telling blow.
The blow of Tuesday’s macabre attack, though, cannot be shrugged off. In Kigezi Sub-region where the three lives were lost, a section of tour operators reported registering many cancellations. Mr Jason Niwamanya, the executive director of Safari Vacations and Travel Service Ltd, said assurances are needed.
“We appeal to the government to provide enough security to ensure these tourism sites remain safe for all the tourists and their guides,” Mr Niwamanya said.
Mr Ivan Mbabazi Batuma, the chairman of Kigezi Tourism Cluster, said intensifying security deployment in all the protected areas is but one of many things that should be done. Tour operators, he added, must also exercise caution by avoiding late-game drives.
“The tour operators should also be vigilant by asking for armed security officials from the Uganda Wildlife Authority before carrying out any game drive,” he further advised, adding that counselling services to the scared tourists will also come in handy.
Elsewhere, Mr Seith Byarugaba, the executive director of Silverback Gorilla Safaris Ltd, “appeal[ed] to the media industry in Uganda to avoid sensational reporting about the Tuesday incident in Queen Elizabeth National Park that he said may result in scaring off the tourists who have already booked to visit other national parks in Uganda.”
Nicholas Kagongo, the manager of Katwe Eco Tourism Information Centre in the Katwe-Kabatooro Town Council, Kasese District, expressed his concerns regarding the recent events.
“On Wednesday, I had visitors who had booked with me, I was expecting them to arrive in the morning but after the Tuesday evening incident, they all cancelled, they were from Kumi University and another from two primary schools in Mbarara City,” he said.
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