The tourism sector not favored by Uganda’s National budget

The tourism sector not favored by the national budget

It was on Thursday last week when the government of Uganda read its budget to the nation but more critics have been cited especially in the tourism sector .According to the tour operators and the Uganda Tourism Boards, they expected the budget to highlight more about the sector and favor it but on their surprise, taxes were increased a thing that will lead to an increase in the costs.

The various tourism sites in the country are to pay more taxes in the coming financial year which will make a Uganda safari more expensive to visitors. Also the 18% VAT on the accommodations where tourists stay while on their trip to Uganda was among the taxes included in the budget. This according to the operators will scare away some visitors who are keen about their expenditure and their numbers will be reduced hence affecting the country’s income. Increasing taxes means that visitors planning to tour the country next year are supposed to adjust their costs and include some portion of the increased taxes.

Uganda has been having a competitive advantage over its neighbors when it comes to costs associated with a safari but this is about to end starting from next coming financial year when the taxes imposed start operating. Spending a night in some of the lodges and visiting some sites in the country will become more expensive than the past years. This will force some visitors to opt for other Eat African countries like Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya. According to government, increasing taxes is a way of generating more revenue yet on the other side, it will reduce the number of visitors who bring in the revenue.

Uganda boosts of a wide collection of tourism fraternities and many visitors have been attracted by these hard-to find features. With the presence of the rare mountain gorillas, Uganda is seen as the leading tourism destination in Africa and this is the reason why the country keeps on improving year after year. However, there is fear that the numbers of visitors next financial year will reduce as taxes imposed on them are increased. It is this reason that different organizations have come out to criticize the budget saying that it will keep them out of business as their clients are discouraged.