As Uganda’s tourism sector moves into full recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic that plunged the sector, the government has embarked on massive tourism growth and heritage conservation efforts to ensure the total recovery of the country’s biggest foreign earner.
Among the efforts is the construction of Kidepo International Airport in northern Uganda to attract and ease the movement of international arrivals.
To realize this, the government is in talks with the United Arab Emirates to construct Kidepo International Airport, which will be Uganda’s second biggest airport after Entebbe.
According to the Minister of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities, Tom Butime, instead of international tourists arriving at Entebbe Airport and driving to Kidepo National Park, which is hundreds of miles away, they will land directly at Kidepo International Airport.
“We have very good relations between Uganda and the United Arab Emirates. The relationships are extremely cordial. We have very strong ties with that country, and we are working together in the area of tourism investment and other areas. And therefore, there will be a Kidepo International Airport built by our friends from the United Arab Emirates. That will be the second biggest international airport after Entebbe. That airport should be able to bring us hundreds of thousands of tourists,” said Butime.
“Instead of landing at Entebbe, they [tourists] will land directly at Kidepo International Airport, go to the national park, drive through Kutgum to Gulu, cross the Nile if they wish, and go to Murchison Falls National Park. The tourists will then drive on tarmac to Fort Portal, Kibaale, Semuliki, Rwenzori, Queen Elizabeth National Park, then to Mbarara to Lake Mburo National Park, and back to Kampala,” he added.
The move is a great step in Uganda’s tourism industry, which was heavily affected by the outbreak of COVID-19, which brought the sector to its knees due to total lockdowns by countries around the world.
Following the lifting of the lockdowns, tourism is regaining strength, registering near pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.
According to the 2023 tourism industry performance report, international tourist arrivals reached 1.2 billion visitors in 2023, up 56.5 percent from 2022 (814,508).
Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s international tourism recovered 82.6% of its pre-pandemic levels (-17.4% versus pre pandemic year 2019).
This means that 82.6% of international tourists who visited Uganda in 2019 have returned.
To enhance the experience of foreign tourists in the country and attract more international visitors, the government has embarked on the rehabilitation of roads leading to Uganda’s tourist attractions, especially the national parks.
Butime revealed that Works and Transport Minister, Gen. Katumba Wamala, has already been ordered to have tourism roads rehabilitated.
“In Cabinet, the Minister of Works and Transport has been given literally matching orders to work on the tourism roads in the country. Gen. Katumba Wamala was asked to make sure that the roads that take tourists to the country are done. If you look at the budget framework [paper] being discussed, roads are very prominent in the budget framework 2024/25,” he said.
“A tourist who has come from Vienna to spend a night in a vehicle on his way to Kisoro to Bwindi National Park is a nightmare. We are working very hard to make sure that our roads in the national parks are worked on and tarmacked if possible so that no tourist gets stuck on his way to our national parks. You can be sure that the statistics of 2024 [to be released] next year around March will be back to say that because of those roads, there has been a lot of improvement, and more tourists came to Uganda than in 2023,” Butime said.
