With months of lock down characterized by little and no tourism activities, Uganda wants to welcome tourists once again. This comes ahead of the scheduled reopening of borders including the Entebbe International Airport on 1st October 2020.
The proclamation of open boarders and airports in the country was made last evening by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni in his televised address to the nation and world at large where he announced the lifting of entry to tourists. This comes in after about six months since the lockdown was first announced following the closure of all borders on 21st March 2020.
However, the easing of restrictions on flights comes with set procedures especially for tourists including the following;
(i) Restrictions on tourists shall be lifted provided they test negative for COVID-19 72 hour’s prior to arrival.
(ii) That tourists travel directly to their destinations or designated hotels without mixing with the community.
(iii) Hotels shall be allowed to operate as agreed in observance of the Standard Operational Procedures (SOP’s).
(iv) Restaurants shall continue to operate with limited patrons preferably on a takeaway/to-go or delivery basis.
With such an announcement, this shines a ray of better times for Uganda’s tourism industry which has not only suffered to maintain a stable business position but also had extreme situations especially with in the enclosed wildlife protected areas like zoos and sanctuaries where animals were at the verge of possible death due to hunger. The industry which of recent had based survival on local tourists will now look forward to ‘seemingly’ normal business with tourists expected from all round the globe.
Regardless of lifting restrictions on boarder entries and flights, the President failed to reopen bars because the sobriety of customers cannot be guaranteed and therefore allow them to observe the set health standard operating procedures to curb spread of the novel Corona Virus.
As by the president’s speech time, Uganda’s cumulative covid19 cases stood at 6287 with 63 deaths.
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