Impact of Covid19 On Uganda Tourism Sector.
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected all areas of socio-economic life around this planet earth. In Uganda it’s impact concerns not only the health system and the health of the population, but also the economy.
Tourism in Uganda is one of the sectors hardest hit by the restrictions imposed by governments all over the world in the wake of the pandemic hence businesses in the travel industry were most at-risk to close to mitigate infection risk for employees and customers alike.
The purpose of this article is to showcase what effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the impact of the tourism sector in Uganda.
In 2020, COVID-19 resulted in losses for almost the entire global economy and in Uganda especially for the tourism sector. The stringent restrictions applied to combat the COVID-19 pandemic brought the Ugandan tourism industry to a complete halt and among the measures to counteract pandemics, the most noticeable were restrictions on the mobility of global travelers in the country as well as social distancing.
The new and stricter measures introduced by government, further aggravated the crisis in the tourism sector. The government attempted to protect their populations with lockdowns, quarantines and finally use of COVID19 vaccines.
In 2020 number of international tourist arrivals in Uganda declined by approximately 80 per cent and the beginning of the year 2021 has been worse for destination Uganda, with an average global decline of 90 per cent as compared to pre-pandemic level.
The travel sector in Uganda had adopted to the impact of COVID particularly in terms of travel restrictions. Domestic travel has increased, but this does little to help developing countries that are dependent on international travel.
The economic impact of the COVID-19 disease was particularly painful for small and medium-sized companies, which had to halt business operations altogether and some of them laid off employees as a result.
At the moment the travel sector in Uganda has adopted to the impact of COVID19 particularly in terms of travel restrictions. Domestic travel has increased, but this does little to help developing countries that are dependent on international travel.
Finally the environment impact of COVID19 is that nature is “getting a break” from humans during the COVID19 pandemic but instead, many rural areas in the tropics are facing increased pressure from land grabbing, deforestation, illegal mining and wildlife poaching. People who have lost their employment in cities are returning to their rural homes, further increasing the pressure on natural resources while also increasing the risk of COVID-19 transmission to rural areas.
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Author; Munyirwa Osman