Uganda tour operators are highly chocking on losses as almost 90% tourist cancellations are registered due to the current mistakes brought about by Covid-19 testing delays as these have forwarded their plea outcry to Government.
While at Press briefing on Thursday at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel, tour operators among other stakeholders of the tourism industry in Uganda requested Government to outdo Covid-19 testing for arriving tourists who have been vaccinated and tested negative from their home countries prior to travel as this has caused a lot of trip cancellations backed up by huge test charges at Entebbe International Airport.
Also, present is an extortion vice surging as complaints arise over fake positive results for Covid-19 plus registered poor testing conditions and unprofessionalism from the team that handles the testing process due to lack of interpersonal relations decorum.
Great Lakes Safaris and Uganda Lodges proprietor Mr Amos Wekesa, witnessed an incident on August 23 as passengers who just landed from Uganda Airlines arriving from Nairobi, Kenya same day, were taken to the testing venue, PCR antigen tests done but to all end up being given positive results, although the same passengers had conducted tests prior to departure from Kenya and tested negative.
Mr Wekesa adds that,’’ when they were tested at an alternative lab, all the results were negative’’
“These people had gone through the inconvenience of paying $65 dollars, and no one refunded their money. This paints a negative image of the country. The amount of information online about how badly we are handling tourists is shocking. And the decision makers tend not to know what is actually on ground. And that is our biggest challenge. As we speak now, 90 per cent of tourists are cancelling bookings for Uganda and are opting to go elsewhere,” he said.
While Uganda insists on testing for Covid-19 on arrival, other countries in the region are offering easier conditions.
For instance, in Kenya, when a traveller has taken the Covid jab and has also tested negative before flying to Kenya, he or she is given an all-clear to enter the country.
“Globally, when a person is fully vaccinated and also tests negative 72 hours before leaving the home country, most destination countries don’t ask for another test. This not the case in Uganda,” Mr Boniface Byabakama, a tour operator and vice chairperson of Uganda Hotel Owners Association, said.
Despite the tour operators’ worry that the PCR test on arrival is counterproductive, Cabinet has now added another bother to the list, namely that fee for the test has to be paid through a bank at the airport.
This, the hospitality sector players say will create more delay and stress for the traveller.
“The quality of people handling the testing, the quality of people handling the airport is causing major challenges for travellers. And no tourist wants to deal with challenges on arrival,” Mr Wekesa said.
In a September 15 statement released by Cabinet, the Ministry of Health is taking up the testing, removing the task from private labs.
The ministry spokesperson, Mr Emmanuel Ainebyoona, said this will improve handling of travellers at the airport. But the tour operators believe a test on arrival at the reduced cost of $30 (about Shs105,000) is still not competitive, and may not stop the mass cancellation of bookings.
Government takes up PCR antigen testing by private facilities, takes up Covid-19 testing role for travelers
According to the Minister of Information, ICT and National Guidance Hon. Dr Chris Baryomunsi in a in a September 15 statement at Uganda Media Centre, Government’s position on taking over the mandatory Covid testing was discussed upon in the course of a cabinet meeting chaired on Monday last week.
He said, “Travellers transiting the borders, including Entebbe International Airport, would be subjected to mandatory testing for Covid-19 all carried out by Government medical personnel’’
He further revealed that, Cabinet reached an agreement for arriving passengers to pay a recovery cost of $30 (Shs105,935) and not the earlier charges of $65 (Shs229,527).”
He quoted that; the current practice where tourists are given favours will be maintained. “…passengers with Tourist Visas will have their samples taken but will be allowed to continue to their booked hotels as they wait the processing of their PCR antigen test results.
Up to six private companies including Test and Fly, Case Hospital, Medipal, Safari Lab, Same Day Lab, and City Medical Lab had installed their equipment.
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