As the global pandemic continues to take a great toll on the universe population, economies have not been omitted on the affected list. In Uganda, the COVID-19 has affected not only the public sector but also the private sector. With limited movement of the population due to the suspension of major transport means countrywide, Hotels and Tourism are facing tough times day in day out.
According to UTB statistics, during the 2018/19 financial year, the tourist arrivals to Uganda grew by 7.4 percent that is from 1,402 million in 2017 to 1,505 million persons. However, currently due to the new and deadly CoronaVirus, there is a recession with in the sector. The public has been drawn to fear of contracting the disease and therefore opted to limited movements and travel.
Regardless of having not registered a single COVID-19 case by March 15, 2020, top five hotels within the Kampala capital had reported losses with in business to a purportedly $2,089,129 in canceled reservations and bookings alone.
Uganda’s boarders have remained crossed to all sorts of travel by land air and sea restricting all travel to potential tourists. This has caused great damage to Uganda’s top foreign income earning sector. This wasn’t the case before the epidemic broke loss later last year.
According to Uganda Hotel Owners Association (UHOA), the average hotel occupancy for hotels in Kampala had improved by 10 percent in a period of two years between 2016 and 2018. On the other hand, the average occupancy outside of Kampala had also elevated by 19 percent in the same period. In the protected wild areas, occupancy too grew by 15 percent.
For any hotel to break-even, it should operate at 40 percent occupancy. However with the global pandemic at hand, many hotels are threatened to weigh way below this point.
While commenting on the issue, the Executive Director at UHOA miss Jean Byamugisha said that the effects of CoronaVirus on Uganda’s hotel industry remain unexpected.
“Our big five star hotels that usually operate at 90 percent occupancy are now at zero for the next predictable months. A hotel’s financial health can be gauged from its occupancy rates. Hotels make the most of their money from accommodation. For a hotel to operate at zero occupancy is a disaster because it means that salaries too cannot be paid later alone loans and taxes.”
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