Problems Facing Tourism in Uganda
Problems Facing Tourism in Uganda: Uganda Tourism has many problems that are hindering its flourishing. One of these is the lack of funds needed to develop the industry, which contributes a significant portion of the country’s budget. Despite these obstacles, Uganda still has plenty of attractions to offer visitors.
Uganda has numerous national parks that cater for wildlife and other attractions. Most of these parks are managed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and are protected according to the Uganda Wildlife Act.
The various problems facing the tourism industry in Uganda have contributed to the slow pace of its development.
Below are some the factors hindering the development of tourism.
Despite being referred to as The Pearl of Africa, Uganda is still undiscovered to the world wide. This is despite the country’s numerous tourist attractions.
Uganda is not known for being a tourist destination, but it also faces stiff competition from its neighbors such as Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Congo , since they have similar products and attractions.
Although the government has been improving the infrastructure in some of its protected areas, such as national parks, some of the roads leading to these areas are still not roadworthy during the rainy season. Also, the accommodation infrastructure in these areas is not up to par.
Some tour and travel companies operate without proper licensing and are not able to handle safaris. This has caused a lot of problems to the country’s tourism.
Most tourists do not have much information about Uganda when planning their trip. This is because the country has a wide variety of attractions that they can visit without much effort.
Poaching in Uganda’s protected areas is one of the main factors that has led to the decline of the country’s wildlife.
The various natural disasters that occur in Uganda annually threaten the survival of the country’s wildlife species. For instance, the lightning that killed three gorillas in Mgahinga gorilla park last year was a natural disaster that killed the animals.
ways on how to improve Uganda tourism.
With the problems facing Uganda’s tourism industry being identified and laid out, there is urgent need to formulate and implement various strategies in order to improve the situation.
Extensive marketing is needed to attract more tourists to Uganda. It will narrow the knowledge gap between the country and the rest of the world.
Through the media companies like CNN and BBC, we can reach a wide variety of people around the world.
The government should also increase its funding for the tourism sector to enable it to develop and improve its infrastructure.
This training should be carried out to help service providers deliver a better and more satisfying service to the tourists.
Diversifying Uganda tourism products or simply creating new products that would increase on the already existing products.