Forest lodge investment earns income, promotes tourism

Uganda’s Primate Lodge was selected among the best 19 tourism accommodations for travellers to look out for in the years to come by Essence, a Black Women Magazine in the United States of America.
This forest lodge is at the entrance of the Kibale National Park and known as home to 13 species of primates.
“The lodge offers guests the opportunity to experience life in the rain forest amongst the primates. From seeing them wake to watching them swing through the trees, Primate Lodge is sure to give you an experience like none other,” Essence Magazine said.
Mr Amos Wekesa, the facility owner and also managing director Great Lakes Safaris, responding to this news, said: “This is great publicity for Uganda and Uganda Lodges. We are excited to be the only property on the list representing East Africa.”
Booking for accommodation facilities in most of Uganda’s national parks is a challenge for many tourists especially during peak seasons.
Lack of accommodation continues to be a serious challenge to many of the national game parks and the Uganda Wildlife Authority embarked on a strategy to partner with private investors to increase on the number of rooms at the game parks.

Investment
According to Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) injecting money in a forest lodge does not only promote tourism but also is a lucrative venture.
Mr John Musajjakawa, the UIA senior investment officer, shares: “This kind of investment requires one to have about $876,730 (Shs3.1 billion) to set up accommodation facilities for eight people per day.”
This means every year one can get a profit of about $1 million (Shs3.6 billion) worth of profit. The revenue potential is estimated at $31,171 per month translating into $374,052 per year. The total investment capital is US$ 876,730 and a profit of US $ 1,049,688 per year.
“This investment idea is also expected to yield a net profit margin of 74 per cent and with a payback period of six months.
Mr Musajjakawa said setting up such a facility with 20 rooms, accommodating an average of eight people per night and serving 15 plates of food and 20 drinks per day plus incomes from entry to the facility for people who go to relax.
With the growing tourist potential in the country, the market is wide; the projected areas include Mt.Elgon National Park, Kibale conservation area, Kidepo Valley National Park, Lake Mburo National Park, among others.
All the raw materials required in the operation of the lodge are locally available in Uganda. These include food, drink and bed facilities.
“The government supports the formation of associations in different sectors. In addition UIA also promotes and facilitates potential investors.

Statistics
According to statistics from Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) Uganda’s international tourist arrivals jumped 8 per cent to 1.3 million in 2015 compared to 1.2 million arrivals in the previous year.
UTB says the country expects to record more than 1.4 million international arrivals for the year ending 2016 as well as more revenue from the industry.
Available records show that Uganda’s revenue from tourism amounts to about $1.4 billion (Shs5 trillion) as of 2015.