Inside tourism’s post-Covid revamp 

A new report has confirmed that Uganda’s tourism industry is on track to recovering from the blow fashioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Tourism Industry Performance 2023 report unveiled by the Tourism ministry this week highlighted the sector’s remarkable resilience last year. The report shows that foreign tourist arrivals grew by 56.5 percent from 814,508 in 2022 to 1,272,210 in 2023. 

The report also put the sector’s recovery at 82.6 percent by the end of 2023. This follows a telling slump in 2020 when the sector’s performance dropped to 31 percent, thanks to the pandemic and its attendant curbs. 

Arrivals from Africa continue to dominate Uganda’s inbound tourism with a share of 89.2 percent. Asia (4.4 percent); Europe (3.1 percent) and the Americas (1.9 percent) follow in that order. 

With tourism earnings rising to $1.025b in 2023, the international tourist receipts alone grew by 48.5 percent. The Shs3,818.6b realised from international tourist receipts in 2023 still falls some way short of the pre-pandemic figure of Shs4,580.4b recorded in 2019. 

Regardless, the report took great pride in the fact that the figure “represented 11 percent of total exports and 50 percent of service exports in 2023.” 

It further noted that “if the current growth [continues], direct tourism revenues could surpass 2019 levels by the end of 2024.”

While Uganda recorded 1,505,669 foreign tourists in 2018, the number grew by 36,951 (2.5 percent) in 2019. The pandemic triggered an almighty drop of -69.3 percent that put the number of tourists in 2020 at 473,085. An 8.4 percent growth in 2021 saw Uganda register 512,945 guests. 

Despite the strides, Uganda, as a tourism destination, still has its work cut out. The report shows that its overseas share shrunk from 12 percent  in 2022 to 11 percent in 2023. This was in spite of Africa registering a rise by one percentage point. 

Tom Butime, the Tourism minister, was, nevertheless, quick to look at the bright side. He said the Explore Uganda campaign that moved to popularise the Uganda brand in three markets across two international platforms and three expos yielded dividends.

“I am glad that domestic tourism has improved,” he said this week, adding, “I can’t thank Covid-19, but it improved because Ugandans had nowhere to go so they had to resort to their own country and start touring like in western Uganda, Namugongo shrine, etc.” 

Minister Butime also said the positive projection of the industry resulted from the country’s diverse offerings. These range from breathtaking national parks to vibrant cultural experiences, to mention but two.

He also specifically cited the drives, including: Uganda Trade Hub launch in Serbia, Uganda North American Association (UNAA) in the USA, Magical Kenya, IBTM Barcelona, Spain, Swahili International Tourism Expo, United States Tour Operators Association Annual Conference and Market Place in Los Angeles, USA, among others. 

Hopeful
The government anticipates further positive spikes in tourist numbers after successfully staging the Non-Aligned Movement [NAM] and G77+China conferences in January. 

While major tourism destinations have struggled to reach their pre-pandemic levels, Semiliki National Park and Murchison Falls National Park recorded 38 percent and 36 percent increases above the same, respectively. 

The Uganda brand also gained international visibility on CNN after the multinational news channel recognised Uganda as one of the top 23 destinations to visit in 2023. 

“The digital marketing campaigns and promotions conducted reached over six million people and the online Permitting System for CITES permits,” the report reads in part. 

Sub-sector rankings
The report put accommodation and food and beverage facilities at the top when it dominated with a combined 54 percent share. 

“The four main products in inbound tourism expenditure were accommodation, food and beverage, travel agencies and reservation services and passenger transport with a combined share of 77.2 percent in 2023,” it disclosed. 

Elsewhere, the national average hotel room occupancy rose from 46.9 percent in 2020 to 53.9 percent in 2023. Consequently, the hotel room occupancy surpassed the 2019 occupancy rate by two percentage points.

The Tourism ministry has planned to conduct domestic tourism promotional activities in the Financial Year. These include Explore Uganda campaigns, local tourism awards, festivals and events. 

“Promote destination Uganda at international expos in the Africa and European markets, support training and capacity building of tourism actors along the tourism value chain, as well as upgrade of some protected areas to ensure improved wildlife conservation and tourist experience,” it says. 

No surprises
Mr Bradford Ochieng, the deputy chief executive officer of Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), said the “tourism industry continues to be a pillar of this country’s economy.”

He added: “Even with the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, which heavily impacted the tourism industry, as of 2022, we are firmly in the recovery stage of this inclination.”

Mr Ochieng said the bump Uganda has received from tourists on the continent should not come as a surprise.  

According to him, the growth that the sector registered in 2023 was largely driven by arrivals from mainland Africa.

Domestically, tourism increased by 25.3 percent in 2023 when domestic entries to Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre (Uwec) grew by 27 percent in 2023 from 480,858 in 2022 to a record 611,758 in 2023. 

“In all, domestic entries into the selected tourist attraction sites rose by 25.3 percent from 890,802 in 2022 to 1,115,169 visitors in 2023,” the report notes. 

The sector internally generated Shs105.3b against a set target of Shs92.8b in the 2022/2023 financial.

This translated into a 113 percent performance, which the ministry attributed to the higher-than-projected rate of recovery of Uganda’s tourism, especially for the activities in protected areas.  

What is being done to remedy the situation?
The Uganda Wildlife Authority remains the largest contributor to the success story, accounting for 93 percent of all collections. This notwithstanding, while gorilla permit sales increased by 59 percent; they still trailed the 2019 record by two percent. 

Specifically, 38,836 gorilla permits were sold in 2023. This represented a 59 percent increase in permit sales recorded in 2022.  

“Gorilla permit sales increased by an average 33 percent between 2019 and 2023 to align closer to 2019 sales, especially from mid to late in the year,” the report says. 

Over the years, the country’s gorilla population has increased from 302 in the early 2000s to 459 in 2022 per a recent gorilla census. Lions, on the other hand, have sharply declined “due to retaliatory killing as a result of human-wildlife conflicts.” They dropped to 275 in 2023 from a peak of 493.

Despite the increased sales of gorilla permits, Auditor General John Muwanga, in his 2023 audit, tasked the Tourism ministry to urgently fix the security glitches in the ticketing system to enable effective systems and controls for the identification, receipt, collection and safeguarding its financial resources.

The audit also observed that the permits extended to tourists tracking gorillas lacked security features that could deter fraudsters.