Shortly after celebrating her 58th Independence Day anniversary, Uganda yet again boosts of being ranked among the top six tourist travel destination this month of October.
This comes on because of Uganda’s success in taming COVID-19 which has stabilized infections, making the country an ideal place for tourism to resume safely according to the Forbes magazine, one of the most-read business magazines in the world.
An endorsement from such a high-esteemed publication is remarkable for Uganda, particularly coming at a time when the tourism sector across the globe has been weakened by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Uganda’s ranking is true to the fact that unlike other countries, Uganda has removed unwieldy restrictions and created vital information on infections to help inform potential travelers to Uganda about the spread and extent of the novel Corona Virus.
According to Forbes, the other countries named alongside Uganda as October’s top tourist destinations include El Salvador, Panama, Pakistan, Ukraine and Bahamas.
It should be noted that on the 1st of October, Uganda reopened all its airports and land borders to passenger flights and inter country movements respectively. This communication had earlier been voiced out on a televised session by the president of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni while addressing the country on matters concerning the extent and effect of Covid-19 on Uganda.
According to government reports, tourism contributed to about Shs5.8 trillion in the 2018/2019 financial year, making the sector the country’s leading foreign currency earner for the fifth year in a row.
Additionally, in the same year, tourism accounted for 7.7 percent of the national GDP and 6.7 percent of total national employment after creating 667,600 jobs. The number of tourists in 2019 reached 1,505,669 up from 1,402,409 in 2017.
Uganda has been ranked among countries that have performed well in fending off the virus. Currently, the country has registered 93 deaths, 9701 cases and 6022 recoveries as per ministry of health data released on October 10.
Many countries, especially in Europe, are seeing a rise in COVID-19 case numbers once again in what has been described as a second wave, making them less inviting destinations to tourist visitors.
Entry requirements to Uganda require that visitors test negative within 72 hours and take a negative test before departure as well. Standard operating procedures also require tourists to observe a curfew between 9pm and 6am; however, those who have a flight between those hours you are permitted to go to from the airport.
About Guide2Uganda
Guide2Uganda (www.guide2uganda.ug) is the most comprehensive source of information about Uganda that exists on the web, with more content on Uganda and surrounding towns, attractions, museums and galleries than any other online guide that currently exists for Uganda as well as being a dynamic news and comprehensive events driven site with content being added daily.
According to WeFollow & Peer Index (whom both measure online influence) we are among the most influential online media organizations in Uganda. We were also awarded for ‘’Best Destination Website in Uganda’’ by Jumia Travel Uganda in the 2017-2018 Africa Travel Awards. If you are planning a visit to Uganda you can always reach us on; info@guide2uganda.ug
